Morning Light
by Jack Stall
Summary: When Jacob sees Bella's old friend from Phoenix, who knows what might happen? Especially because it's a guy. Takes place after Eclipse. Jacob/OC. Homosexual. Reviews are much appreciated.
1. First Impressions

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

1. FIRST IMPRESSIONS

_This house… Is huge… _I walked up the dimly lit driveway, which seemed to stretch on forever mind you, to the front door. It was about seven in the evening and the cab had just dropped me off. I felt weird about barging in so late, even though I was invited. One of the many glass windows were open and from inside I could hear a man's voice, only, his voice was so smooth. Like satin. _It has to be one of the vampires Bella told me about. _

"Bella, have you told anyone about us?" The voice said.

There was no response for a while and then finally a girl's voice broke the silence, "Of course not…" It was Bella of course. Even if I wasn't the person she had told, I would've known she was lying. The man she was talking to had to know.

"Get the door," he said. _How did he know… It has to be Edward. The mind reader. Ok, this is going to be intrusive…_

I heard footsteps, stumbling, and more footsteps. _Yeah, Bella's answering the door. _I heard Edward chuckle. The big door opened, and Bella smiled at me. "Terry! I'm so glad you found the house! Edward. Edward come here, meet Terry."

Looking in to the house, I saw Edward stand up from the couch he was sitting on and walk over to the door without making a single sound. _That's so weird. No sounds, Bella was right._

"It's not that weird, Terry." Edward said, so smoothly, almost seductively without even trying. His bronze hair went well with his liquid topaz eyes, that Bella has told me about on many occasions.

"That's gonna take some getting used to." I extended my arm for a hand shake. "Nice to meet you Edward."

He just looked at me for a second, looking almost confused, if a confused expression could be carved so perfectly in stone. But he then grabbed my hand and I flinched. _Wow, that's cold. Bella wasn't joking. _"Sorry about that. The pleasure's all mine, please come in."

I took a step into the house and passed by Edward and caught a whiff of his scent. It smelled surprisingly good. _He can probably hear my thoughts about how good he smells… I need to watch what I think about…_

"It's fine, Terry. Everyone thinks that. You don't need to be ashamed." He laughed a little.

Bella seemed upset, "What are you guys talking about? I can't stand not knowing what half of the conversations are!"

A deeper voice called from down the hallway, "Why is it so hot in this house?! Leech-I mean _Edward_… You guys are killing me here… Please turn the heat down, I don't care if Bella freezes. It's soooo hot…"

"Bella, I need to talk to you. It's rather important. I need to know how much you told Terry." Edward took on a very serious tone. It shocked me how serious he could sound.

Bella looked rather worried, I was gonna ask what the big deal was but then she cut me off, "Terry, you should go meet Jacob, I think you'll like him. I have to go talk to Edward."

With that Bella and Edward walked up the stairs, out of sight. I just kinda stood there awkwardly. I dropped my bags to the floor, and called down the hall, "Hey, uhh Jacob?"

"Yeah? Who's asking?" Jacob walked down the hall to where I was, he was much different from what Edward looked like. Where Edward was pale, Jacob's skin was much darker. And from what I could tell he wasn't joking about him being warm. He wore only a pair of cut-off jeans that hugged snuggly around his toned waist. Above that, a chiseled torso rose and sank very rapidly. _Why is he so out of breath? _

I looked up to see him staring directly at me. Our eyes met and it felt like he was staring into my soul. I couldn't even look away. I barely managed to get out, "H-hi… I'm Terry…"

He didn't say a word. He just stared into my eyes, with a very interesting face. I can't even explain what it looked like. It was just an expression I have never seen before. Finally he broke eye contact with me and stared at the ground. His facial expression changed to a really confused one. Without saying anything, he just stormed out the door, faster than I've seen anyone run before. He ran out into the woods and disappeared.

"Bye…?" _What was his problem? Why was he staring at me so intensely? _I was still staring out the door when Edward and Bella came back down the stairs.

"What happened? Where did Jacob go?" Bella asked. I didn't even know she was there. I was still staring out the door.

After a few more seconds I turned to face Bella, but I caught Edward's face and his expression confused me too. Then I realized that he was reading my mind. I spoke to Bella, "I don't know. He came from down the hall asking who called him, he just looked at me, and then left."

"That is a unusual face isn't it?" Edward said, referencing my recollection of what just happened. "I wonder what was going through his head."

Bella spoke up, "Well we can call Jacob later and ask what his problem is, for now let's get Terry to his room."

"Bella… You think you might have mentioned him staying here to me, or Carlisle, or someone before he just showed up."

"Bella! You told me you had it all figured out." I was surprised she lied to me and I fell for it.

Bella smirked at Edward, "Yeah but if I had told you, you could've said no. But since he's already here, you have no choice but to let him stay." She hugged Edward and then grabbed my arm and lead me upstairs, leaving Edward dumbfounded.


	2. Worry

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

2. WORRY

"You can sleep in Emmet's room." This room was quite large. It had an entire wall made of glass, at least I think it's glass. I'm too afraid to go touch it, I might fall out. Taking up most of the room was a giant king sized bed. To the best of my knowledge vampires didn't need sleep. I tried not to think about it as I looked around the rest of the room. It was big open and bright. It just struck me as weird. "I'm sure he won't mind. Besides they're all gone for the month anyway." Bella's cheerful attitude was kinda sickening. _Why is she so happy? She was never like this in Phoenix… _

"I think I know why." Edward said as he silently walked through the door, carrying my bags with little to no effort. He placed them at the foot of the bed and stood next to Bella, wrapping his arm around her waist. The look on Bella's face was enough to show me that Edward was right.

I decided to break the awkwardness of them getting all 'lovey-dovey' by asking about Edward's family, "So Edward, where did everyone go? Bella said they left for the month."

"Carlisle took everyone on a vacation. I'm not really sure why. But having the house to ourselves made Bella happy, so I was happy as well." He looked down at Bella, who made a face at him. "Ahh yes, I suggested to Bella she invite Jacob to stay with us, but he refused. He didn't want to sleep in a 'House of Leeches' as he put it."

I laughed. Jacob did seem like someone I would like to hang out with, but he ran out so suddenly I don't think he feels the same, "Why was he here then? If he wasn't staying here?"

"He's been coming over everyday. And he's always welcome here after what he did for Bella during that blizzard. Bella thinks he's still trying to be with her. I know that he's just here to be her friend. He's waiting for something. He doesn't know what yet, but his thoughts have changed recently." Edward then suddenly looked thoughtful. He shook his head, trying to push whatever thought it was away. "Now Terry, if you don't mind me asking, how exactly do you know Bella from Phoenix?"

I was surprised she never mentioned me before. So much for being her best friend. "Well me and Bella used to go to the same school, and we we're best friends. Then she moved here and well I guess she missed me and invited me to visit for a while." I began to feel bad, "Really Edward, I had no idea she didn't tell you I was coming. If I knew I wouldn't have-"

"Don't worry about it." He interrupted. "I just wish she hadn't told you so much about us."

Bella, who had been silent for a while, decided to speak up, "Look, it was all a weird experience for me finding out you guys were so different. I needed someone to talk to and Terry was my only friend I knew I could count on."

"Trust me, your secret is safe with me." I tried to help Bella's cause. She really put me in an awkward position, though. I didn't want to impose on Edward like this. And I could tell he was really worried about the consequences of me knowing their secret. I tried not to think about it.

"I know it is." He turned to Bella, "Now I think we should leave Terry to unpack his things." And with that he and Bella left downstairs, leaving me with my thoughts.

I wondered how far I had to be before Edward could no longer read my mind. Now that I was alone with my thoughts, or at least I hoped so, the only thing I could think about was Jacob. _What did I do? I mean I just wanted to say hi, and then he just bolted… And what was with that look? _I decided that we should call Jacob, like Bella had suggested. I felt… weird about what had happened, and I wanted to make it right.

I then absentmindedly emptied my bags. Once I finished, I called to Bella, "Hey, Bella?" Walking down the stairs, I found Edward and Bella on the couch exactly where they were when I had arrived. They were watching some movie, I wasn't really interested as to what it was. "I think we should call Jacob and see what happened. I feel like I did something wrong."

Edward stood up from the couch, he started to walk over towards me and just stared at me. It felt like he was contemplating something. But I wasn't sure what. Finally he spoke. "I don't believe he would answer if you called. You are more than welcome to take my car to visit him, if you'd like."

"But Edward he just got here! I want to spend some time with him, I haven't seen him in a long time." Bella walked over to Edward, and continues explaining how she didn't want me to leave.

I didn't know what to do. I had to figure out what was wrong. I didn't know why it bothered me so much either, I mean I just met the guy.

Edward's voice broke my inflections, "Terry, while it is absolutely up to you, I believe Jacob may need some help."

"What do you mean help? Is he hurt? Edward tell me what happened." Bella started to get worried.

"He just needs someone to talk to. And I believe that someone is Terry."

"Why him? I'm his best friend can't he talk to me?" Bella sounded upset that I was apparently more suited to talk to her friend.

"Bella," Edward held Bella's face between his hands, "Would I ever do something unless I was sure it was necessary?"

Bella melted as he stared into her eyes. She started nodding in understanding. "Edward's right. You should go see him. Let me write down the directions to his house."

While Bella searched for pen and paper, Edward handed me the keys to his car. "It's the silver one." He smiled at me. The smile made me think there was more to this than he was letting on.


	3. Imprint

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

3. IMPRINT

I took Edward's advice and decided I should go visit Jacob, to make sure he's ok. And much to my surprise, Edward let me use his car. His nice shiny, silver Volvo. I was almost afraid to drive it, it looked so expensive. But he eventually talked me into it.

As I drove around Forks, trying to decipher the directions I was given, I had some time to think. It would be a little awkward walking up to Jacob's house, only to be greeted by his father. What would I say? 'Hi, you don't know me, and I don't know you or your son, but uhh… Can I talk to him?' _Yeah that'll go over well… _I needed to come with something to say and fast. I found his house. If you could call it a house. Compared to Edward's home, this is just a shack.

I walked up to the door of the red 'shack' and stood there wondering what to say. I still hadn't thought of anything. _Oh hi. It's me the guy you flipped out in front of. Mind if I come in? _

I was so lost in thought I didn't hear the door open. "Hey." The voice was familiar, but had a different tone from what I heard before. It sounded like… Like the way Edward talks to Bella… "I… I'm sorry about running off like that."

I looked up to see Jacob towering over me. _Man, he's huge… _"It's no big deal, really. Umm… Edward suggested that I should go see if you were ok. And, well, here I am." He never looked away from my eyes. Again, staring so deep into them. I couldn't help but feel… something… "So, are you ok?"

"Yeah. It's just-well you know how-man this is hard to explain." His brows furrowed in his attempt to spit out whatever it was that was bothering him.

I figured I should help him out. "Jacob, do you mind if I come in? We could talk inside, it's kinda… cold and wet out here." I smiled.

Thankfully, he smiled too. "Oh, yeah, of course. Please come in." He held the door for me as I walked into his too-small kitchen for his too-big body. _It's a good thing he doesn't have a brother. They'd never fit in here. _"Follow me." He walked down a hallway and into a room at the end of the hall. The room was basically all mattress, with just enough room for the door to swing open. I squeezed into the room and was pressed right up against his body. He was so warm. In the few seconds our bodies touched, I could feel it getting hotter in the tiny room. "Do you wanna sit down? This is gonna take some time to explain…"

As I sat on his bed and leaned back on my arms, ready for his explanation, he closed the door. I had no idea why this was such a project. He began pacing-no, not pacing, he was basically just took a step back and forth in the area where his door opens. "Jacob, hey. Why don't you just sit down with me? You're gonna have a stroke if you keep torturing yourself like this."

He abruptly looked at me. "Sure sure." He dropped himself to the bed and it made me realize just how big and heavy he was. He took a deep breath and turned to face me again. "So I'm assuming that Bella told you about me? Like the werewolf thing?"

"Yeah. Bella told me that you and a few other guys around here can change into wolves. She also told me that you spent the night in a tent with her to keep her warm with your high body temperature, and how you fought against the Vampire army and nearly got yourself killed." I didn't understand where this conversation was going.

He rolled his eyes. "I was fine. Bella doesn't think we can take care of ourselves."

"Jacob, she said you broke half of the bones in your body! That doesn't sound fine to me." I threw my hands up to drive my point home. I was really just trying to keep this light mood.

"Really. I was fine. We heal fast." He got serious again. _So much for the light mood…_ "Did she tell you anything else?"

I could tell he was looking for something. Like he wanted me to already know, to make his explanation easier. But I really had no idea. "Not that I can think of…"

Jacob took a deep breath again, and closed his eyes. He started to explain everything about his tribe, from the old stories of the spirit soldiers to the abilities his pack has, like communicating with each other through their minds in wolf form. He told me how annoying it was because anything he thought, they could hear and vice versa. "…and last but not least… we come to why I ran off."

I was absolutely engulfed in his stories. They were so cool. I actually forgot about him running off, but I figured we'd get there eventually. "Why was that, exactly?"

He looked deeply into my eyes again, and then his expression became sad. "Well, it's called 'imprinting'." He did air-quotes on the last word. It made me laugh a bit. His expression changed to a happy one, then became sad again. "When one of us werewolves come across a certain person and we make eye contact…" Again, he took a deep breath. "We become… bonded to that person."

He looked at me, assuming that I got what he was trying to say. It flew right over my head. "Ok?"

Jacob sighed. "It's like soul mates. Two people that are meant to be together. But it's stronger than that. The werewolf becomes dependant on the other person, I guess is a way to put it. It's like seeing the sun for the first time."

I was still having a hard time grasping what he was saying. I thought about it for a moment, and then it hit my like a truck. I couldn't say anything. I was completely lost.

Jacob just looked at me and his expression grew more sad by the minute. "I understand if you don't want me. I mean we're both guys, I get it. But it wasn't up to me. I just hope I can be your friend."

I could tell that he didn't just want to be my friend. And I could see that he was serious. I still couldn't speak.

"Ok… I-I understand… I'll just go…" He was on the verge of tears. I couldn't stand to see him so upset. As he started to stand up, I just grabbed his arm. I held onto it for a few minutes and just stared down at the mattress. I could feel him looking at me.

I needed to say something. "…Jacob…Don't go." That was all I could say. That was all he needed to hear. He leaned in closer to me and pulled me to his chest. He was so warm. It felt nice… I still held onto his arm, unsure of what do to, or what exactly was going on.

He just held me for what seemed like forever. I knew he didn't want to let go. And I wasn't sure if I wanted him to. Finally, he spoke. "T-Terry…" He took hold of my face with one hand and lowered his head to face me. "I-I love you."

I could see in his eyes, the reflection of myself. I was crying. He held me close again, and this time I wrapped my arms around him. "Jacob… I… don't know… what to… do…" I managed to choke out between sobs. Why I was crying was beyond me. I just came to Forks to visit my friend Bella and look at what happened. I was in the arms of her best friend, who just told me he imprinted on me.

His hug tightened. "Do whatever your heart tells you. Whatever you want, I want too." How could he be so selfless? He wants to have my love so badly, but is willing to let me go if I want to leave. How could I leave him? How could I hurt him, when all he wants is for me to be happy? Does being two guys really matter, when you're in love? _Am_ I in love?

All those questions needed answers, but I was just so tired, and this bed was so soft. Without moving my face from his chest I started talking. "Jacob? Can I stay here tonight? I don't really wanna drive back to the Cullen's house…"

Without even looking I could tell he was smiling. "Of course. I can set up the couch for you if you want."

"Do you think I could sleep here?" I really liked how soft the bed was. It was like a cloud. _Man, I really am tired… _

"Yeah, I'll go sleep on the couch." He hugged me tight again and then started to get up.

I grabbed his arm again. "No, wait. I meant could I sleep here… with you?" I looked up at his face and I'm pretty sure that it was the expression someone would have if they just saw God.

He laid next to me and turned his head to look me in the eyes again. I took this opportunity to really look at him. He was very good looking, and I could see he had a good heart. _I may actually feel something for him…_ "Terry, I love you."

I just stared into his eyes for a little while longer, and eventually curled up next to him. He wrapped his arm around me and I couldn't complain, it was really cold outside and he was really warm. I rested my head on his chest and listened as his heartbeat lulled me to sleep.


	4. Answers

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

4. ANSWERS

A musky, woodsy scent was all I could smell. And it smelt good. I didn't really remember the events of last night. Something about wolves and printing something… No wait, not printing, _im_printing. How the werewolves imprint on certain people and become bonded to them. A weird phenomena the werewolves have.

I opened my eyes, and realized I was laying on someone's chest. I could hear the heartbeat that had put me to sleep the night before. I picked my head up to see Jacob staring at me. "Good morning." His face lit up as he said the words. We stared at each other for a few minutes before he said, "You talk in your sleep, you know."

"I do? What did I say?" _Something embarrassing probably… _I felt my cheeks getting red as I thought of what I could've possibly said.

He just smiled. "Nothing important really." I could tell he thought it was important. The sly look on his face made me highly curious.

But instead I went a different direction. I still didn't have an answer from him. I rolled off of him, onto my back. "Jacob, why did you run yesterday? Why didn't you just tell me back at the Cullen's?"

He propped himself up on an elbow. "I wasn't… sure if we could imprint on other guys. I had to talk to Sam about it." He looked down. I saw then, that he really didn't want to imprint on a guy. But like he said, he really didn't have a choice. It just happened.

"What does Sam think?" I hoped that he wasn't going to be ostracized by his pack because of me. I would feel horrible.

He smiled again. "Sam says that we just imprint on who we imprint on. We have no control. It just happens whether we want it to or not."

I pondered that for a minute and then focused on the last part, "So you didn't want to imprint on me?" I sat up. This was going to be a long conversation.

He looked confused. "I… Umm…" It was like he didn't know what to say. _How could he not know what he wanted? Unless…_

"Jacob are you debating on what to tell me because you don't want to hurt my feelings?" His expression showed me that I was right. I continued before he could speak, "Jacob look, I always want you to be honest with me. Whether you think I'd like the answer or not. Because I _wouldn't_ like being lied to, even if it was to protect me."

Nodding his head, he spoke, "Ok. I understand. Well at first, no. I didn't want to have imprinted on a guy. But after thinking about it and seeing you again here, I realized that it doesn't matter. Not that I really had a choice anyway."

"So you're happy having imprinted on me?"

"Are _you _happy I imprinted on you?" His expression was blank.

It took me a minute but he really needed an answer, that much was obvious. "Of all the people that could fall in love with me, I think you are a good choice." I was dancing around a real answer, because I didn't have one. I didn't know. I wished I knew why this was so difficult. _Would I have had the same trouble if it was with a girl?_

He looked down for a brief minute then looked back up, smiling again. "If you're happy, then I'm happy." Once more the serious expression took over his face. "Terry… What do you want to do…?"

"…Eat?" I suggested trying to make him smile again. His mood really alters the atmosphere.

A brief smile crossed his face, and then faded away. "Would you like something? I'll make you whatever you want, but please, can you answer me?"

I didn't want to. I didn't have an answer. "What do I want to do about what?" I was hoping playing dumb would by me some time.

He sat right in front of me, his face nearly inches from my own. "What do you want to do about this?" He grabbed my hand and placed it on his bare chest. His strong heartbeat increased as my hand rested atop it. "About us?" He placed his own hand on my heart. My heart rate went up as well, with his warm hand on my chest.

I didn't know he affected me like that. I didn't know my heart would speed up to the touch of another man. But does it really matter? _Why do I keep thinking about this as two men. Why can't I think like two people. Two souls. Connected. _I leaned forward subconsciously, snapping back into reality less than an inch from his face. I could feel his hot breath on my lips. I looked in his eyes. I saw extreme restraint. He was waiting for me to do it first. And I was glad for that. I sat back a little, never breaking eye contact. "Why don't we see how this plays out?"

He nodded. Quite obviously not the answer he wanted, but definitely not the answer he feared. "I can wait." The tension finally broke in the room as a smile crossed his face once more. I couldn't help but smile back. "So how about that breakfast?" He got off the bed, and held the door open for me.

I just stared at him, marveled at what I was getting in to. _What was I getting in to? _I didn't know. I'm pretty sure he didn't know either. But I was ok with that. For now.


	5. Gift

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

5. GIFT

"Yeah, I'll be staying here for a few days. Well Jacob's having some problems and he keeps telling me it's not my fault, and I don't need to stay here but I feel like I did something. I mean, it all started in the hallway at the Cullen's and it made me feel bad so I'm just gonna be here while he works out these problems. No really, I'm fine. I'll stop by soon. Tell Edward I said thanks for letting me borrow his car. Bye." _Man, Bella worries too much._

I hung up the phone and sat back at the table. My plate was filled with my second huge, half-eaten pancake, and I'm pretty sure I can't finish it. I looked over at Jacob's plate as he piled on some more pancakes. I lost count of how many he had eaten. It was around seven when I decided to call Bella.

I figured I should let her know what happened, well not really what happened. I wanted Jacob to be the one who tells her because it wasn't really my secret. It was his. And I did feel bad about staying here instead of with Bella, seeing as how she was the one to invite me to Forks, but I just didn't want to leave Jacob. I didn't want him to be alone. I know how he acts when I'm around. I don't want him to be depressed if I leave.

Finally Jacob leaned back in his chair, finished with his feast. "Ok, I'm full." He looked over at me and saw my half-eaten pancake, "What? You don't like it?"

"No no, that's not it. I just don't have the super-human appetite you seem to have. It was really good." I glanced over at the mess he made while making breakfast. "You can cook, but you sure do make a mess of things."

His cheeks flushed. His bashfulness made me smile. He stood up and grabbed our plates. "Don't worry I'll clean it. Why don't you go get dressed?"

_Dressed? You mean I'm not?_ I looked down at my body to realize I was wearing pajama bottoms and a T-shirt that weren't mine. "What? I don't remember changing last night…"

"Well uhh… That's because you didn't change. I-I took the liberty of putting you into more comfortable clothes. You were so out of it, I tried to wake you up to change, but you just stayed sleeping. You're not mad are you?" His face looked worried, like after a child broke a vase.

I wasn't mad. Just a little confused. I figured a joke would be nice right now, "I usually save showing off my body for the second night I sleep with someone. But I suppose since you're half-naked all the time, it was only fair." I smiled to make sure he knew I was kidding.

A sly smile crossed his face, I could tell this was going to be fun. "That's true. But you can't really say you slept with me, I mean all you did was sleep! How boring is that?"

"Well excuse me! I'm sorry I don't put out on the first date like everyone else you've dated." His smiled faded then. I had no idea why.

"I… I've never dated anyone before. Unless you could call going to the movies with Bella and Mike Newton a date… But that really doesn't count." His eyes were piercing my soul again. "I suppose what we did last night was the closest I've ever been to having a real date."

I was shocked. I was just playing around, I didn't know he would take it so seriously. I felt like I had to make it up to him. But was I willing to? "Jacob… Why don't we go out to eat tonight? You know, just the two of us?"

His face lit up at the idea. All the doubt I had about whether I was willing went out the window. I started to wonder if he effects other people like this, but he cut off my thoughts, "Of course! You-I… Wow. Yes." Apparently he wanted to, that much I could tell.

"Ok. Great. Do you need any help with the dishes?" He really used by far too many dishes to make pancakes.

"No. I've got it. Please, you just go change." He turned to face his mess, while I got up from the table and headed back down to Jacob's mattress of a room.

My clothes were neatly folded over by the corner of the room. As I dressed I noticed an envelope was beneath my clothes. _What's this? _I opened the envelope and removed its contents. A piece of paper and a cloth bag with its drawstring pulled tight. Curiously, I read the note. _Dear Terry, I'm not really good at expressing my feelings and it seems corny to give you this, but I figured if you don't like it, it saves me from hearing it directly. It's been in my family for years and I felt like I should give it to you. Jacob._

I put the letter down on the bed and opened the little cloth bag. A woven necklace was inside. The intricate detail in the weave was astounding, and there was a bead in the center that had the same engraving in it as the tattoo on Jacob's shoulder. It was really impressive. I closed my hand around it and smiled.

"Do you like it?" Jacob's hands wrapped around me and turned me to face him.

I met his gaze and saw he already knew the answer. "I thought you didn't want to hear if I didn't like it?"

"Well given that you're holding it to your chest, I figured you did." I didn't know I was holding it like that. "Besides, I really just wanted to watch your reaction like I wasn't handing it to you in person. I could see if you really liked it, not just faking it for my benefit. Here, let me help." He took the necklace from my hands and fastened it around my neck. "Thank you for accepting this. It means a lot to me." He held my face in his hand, gazing deep into my eyes.

"Thank you for giving it to me. I really like it." I smiled at him, and he hugged me tightly.

Jacob broke out of the hug and held me at arms length. He just stared me directly in the eyes for a good three minutes before I started to feel a little uncomfortable. "Why do you get upset when I look at you?"

"It's not that you're looking at me, it's the intensity that your eyes have. I'm just not used to that." He decided to just hug me closely again.

"Well, you'll grow to love it I'm sure." I could just feel that huge smile on his face.

"So how are those dishes coming along?" With an exaggerated sigh, he let me go and headed towards the kitchen.


	6. Clothes

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

6. CLOTHES

"It sure is beautiful, isn't it?" It was one of those rare cloudless days in Forks. The sun was just setting into the ocean and I was in awe at it's majesty. The way the orange of the sun colored the water, along with the sounds of the waves crashing against the beach made for a glorious image.

"Yeah. _It _is." The emphasis on the word 'it' was so heavy I could almost feel it. He laughed a bit.

I turned away from the sunset to see Jacob staring at me once again. I rolled my eyes, "No, really Jacob, look."

He glanced over at the ocean and then turned back to me, "The sunset is nothing compared to looking at you."

"Ok _that_ was corny. Much cornier than the necklace." I touched the wooden bead on the woven hemp necklace Jacob had given me earlier that morning.

"So you really do like it?" I had thought we had cleared this matter several times throughout the day.

"Yes. Jacob, what else can I do to show you that I like it? If I didn't, would I still be wearing it? Would I have accepted it at all?" I was getting a little annoyed at the constant assurance that I liked it.

He nodded, satisfied for now. I was sure he'd be asking again in no time. "C'mon." Jacob jumped off of the log he was sitting on, "Let's head back. You still wanna go out to eat with me right?"

I stood up and walked with him along the shore, "Yeah. Where are we going again?"

"There's this fancy restaurant in Seattle I heard about. A real uppity kinda place. I figure you'd like it." He slowed his pace, once he realized I was struggling to keep up without breaking into a sprint.

I was shocked, "A fancy restaurant? Jacob, they probably have a 'no shirt, no shoes' rule…" I looked up and down at his body from his bare feet, up to his pair of cut-off jeans, and finally his lack of shirt.

"Yeah. I know that, Terry. Geez, gimme some credit." He mocked being insulted and continued, "I've got fancy clothes. You'll see."

"I'm looking forwards to it." We walked the rest of the way with me cracking jokes about him trying to go into a grocery store dressed the way he is.

"I do own clothes, ya know. I'm just always hot, a constant one-oh-eight degrees. And it's more convenient this way." He held the door open for me and I walked into his kitchen as he continued, "Less clothes for me to carry around as a wolf. I'll be right back, and then we'll leave."

As he walked down to his room, I thought about him as a wolf for a minute only to realize I haven't seen him as one. Bella told me stories of how he'd always be running off to do the wolf thing, but he hasn't left once. _Is it because the rest of the pack will know he imprinted on a guy? _

Before I could finish the thought Jacob came back from his room and I my jaw dropped. He wore a dark purple shirt that was dark enough to look black and was made of satin, a crisp pair of freshly ironed black pants, and shiny black shoes. I was impressed. And seriously under-dressed. "Whaddya think? Pretty sharp, right?"

"I… Wow. You look good." I then looked at myself: old, faded T-shirt, pair of khaki pants, and black boots. _I'm gonna need some clothes… _

When I looked back at Jacob he was already rolling up his sleeves. Apparently he was too warm, "Thanks. I don't think I'll be able to dress like this for long though. It's soooo hot."

"Jacob, I don't have clothes like that with me. Well at all really. Even the clothes I have at the Cullen's aren't that fancy." I started to wonder what I could do. _Jacob's clothes are all too big for me…_

His brows furrowed for a minute, possibly thinking the same thing I was, but then he snapped his fingers, "Got it. You look about as tall as Edward. Maybe you can borrow some of his clothes. They're kinda old fashioned though, and we'd have to wash the scent of leech out…"

I let him ramble on for a bit as I grabbed the telephone. I dialed the Cullen's phone number and Bella answered. "Hi Bella. It's Terry. I was just wondering if it was at all possible to borrow some of Edward's clothes for the night. Well me and Jacob are going to some fancy restaurant. Yeah. No, this is a way to try to work out the problems. Yep. Ok great. We'll be over in a bit."

As I hung up the phone, I noticed Jacob's curious expression. "'The problems'? What problems?"

"Well I didn't want to be the one to tell Bella about you imprinting on me. I mean, you're her best friend and I figured she should hear it from you." I hoped he understood why I was deceiving her.

"Ok, I get it. Thank you for that. I don't really know what to tell her, so maybe we shouldn't let her know yet." He smiled and held out his hand, "Mind if I drive?"

"Well… It's Edward's car… Wait, you can probably drive better than me anyway, Mr. Mechanic." I reached into my pocket and handed Jacob the key to Edward's silver Volvo. "Just please, don't wreck it. I don't want Edward to kill me."

He snorted a laugh, "Like he could even get close enough to touch you. You're safe with me."

As we walked to the car, I thought about Jacob protecting me from a murderous, Volvo-wrecked, Edward. That thought eventually lead me back to thinking about not having seen Jacob as a wolf. I decided to ask him as we drove along, going faster than I had ever thought about going in a borrowed car, "Jacob, Bella told me stories of how you constantly go out to run with the pack as a wolf, but since I've met you, you haven't left at all."

His eyes stayed focused on the road and his hands tightened around the steering wheel, which looked like it was going to snap under the pressure. "Why do you ask? Do you want me to go run with them?"

"Well not really, but I don't want to be the reason you stop." We had reached the Cullen's driveway in a fraction of the time it took me to get to La Push the previous night. "I was really just curious about what you look like as a wolf." Which wasn't exactly false, but it wasn't the real reason.

As he put the car in park he turned to me, "Oh, you wanna see? I'll show you."

He started to open the car door but I grabbed his arm, as he turned back to face me again I smiled, "Well how about tomorrow? I don't want you to ruin your only set of fancy clothes."

He opened his door and got out of the car. As I stepped out, he said, "Really, I have clothes. I'll show you later."

Bella opened the front door as we reached it. With a smile she commented on Jacob's attire, "Looking snazzy, Jake. I didn't know you had more clothes than just your shorts."

I started to laugh as he just stomped through the door, "You all can just shut up."

"Hi Terry." She turned to me as I walked inside. "I hope they fit you."

She had laid out the clothes for me on the sofa. I wasn't expecting such a modern look: Pressed black pants, a black button up and a black sports coat. "Wow, thanks. I won't be needing the jacket though. They never fit me right."

I grabbed the clothes and Jacob walked past me to Bella. "Where's Edward? I thought you two were inseparable."

She just shrugged, "He went out." I saw her glance in my direction and then back to Jacob. She whispered something to him and he nodded.

"Gross." Jacob made a face, and then I realized Edward went out to hunt. "Ok well thanks for the clothes Bella."

"Yeah, thanks. I'll bring them back soon."

As Bella said her goodbyes, Jacob had walked to the car and opened my door for me. "You don't need to hold the door for me." I sat in and he closed the door.

He walked around the car and sat in the drivers seat before he began, "I don't need to, but I want to. I like doing things for you." He stared in my eyes again. Eventually a disgusted face took over, "Now let's go home quick to wash those blood-sucker clothes."


	7. Dinner

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

7. DINNER

It was almost eight by the time the clothes I had borrowed from Edward were up to Jacob's standard of smell. We reached the restaurant by nine and were seated relatively quickly for not having a reservation. I was marveled at the elegance of the restaurant. I started to feel bad. "Jacob, we don't need to eat at a place like this. It looks very expensive…" After having looked at the menu, I saw I was right. The menu might as well have literally had written 'an arm and a leg' on it.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. Money has no meaning to me. You are all that matters." Jacob stared at me, using the stare that I'm pretty sure he learned from watching Edward look at Bella.

It's barely been a day since Jacob imprinted on me and it was starting to get a little annoying. The constant adoration might seem nice to some people, but it gets old after being done over and over. "Jacob. Stop. You don't need to treat me like I'm someone really important. I'm not special."

He reached across the table and grabbed my hand, "But you are special. You're the most important person in my life. And it's really not inconveniencing me to be so nice to you, I want to do it. No one is making me. Everything I say, I mean."

It's really hard to argue with him. He's so committed to this I don't think anything will change his mind.

I wanted to argue more, but the waitress came to the table before I could. It was very apparent she liked what she saw sitting opposite me, because she barely looked at me as she took our orders. Her eyes were glued to Jacob. I started to get irritated, to the point of anger even. I didn't know why it upset me so much. Even though she couldn't take her eyes off him, Jacob's eyes never left mine.

Eventually our food was brought out and normal conversations resumed, "So tell me about your pack."

"Sure. What do you want to know?" I was surprised he spoke so fluently with his mouth so full of food.

I asked him all sorts of questions about his wolf pack. How many are in it? Doesn't it get annoying having that many people's voices in your head? Is it weird having one girl werewolf? Those are just a few of the questions.

He answered them all in great detail, I appreciated that. He made me feel like I was a part of his werewolf existence.

"Do you think I could meet your pack sometime?" They sounded like a cool group of guys to hang out with.

"Yeah, I guess. Tomorrow? They probably will want to talk to me about being AWOL for so long… I'll introduce you after I phase into a wolf for you." I couldn't exactly place the emotion in his voice, it almost sounded like he was nervous.

After we ate, he paid the gargantuan bill and held every door open for me along the way, much to my dismay. I really just wanted him to act normal around me, but it's beginning to seem impossible. He sprinted ahead to the car to open the door for me, "Thanks…" I sighed and sat in the car.

He walked around the front of the car and climbed inside the driver's seat. Even though the parking lot was lit only by a few lights, I could see his eyes held a burning passion. "Terry, I wanna thank you for tonight. It really means a lot to me, I can now say I've had a date!" He smiled and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Jacob it's nothing, really. I mean, all I did was suggest we go out to eat. You paid for the whole thing, and it was really expensive. I feel bad." I looked away from his eyes, "I have no way to repay you…"

I could feel his eyes on me. "You don't need to repay me. Just being here with me is payment enough. I feel _I_ owe _you_." He took my hand in his.

I turned to face him, "But you don't! Jacob… You've done enough for me. You owe me nothing."

You can't argue with him. His stubbornness is surpassed by no one. "Terry… I feel I owe you because whenever I'm with you I get so happy, and… You make me feel complete. And I love you." He touched a hand to the side of my face and slowly brought my face to his.

Mere inches from our lips touching, I turned away. "Jake… I'm sorry. I just don't know…" I expected him to be hurt, so I didn't look up to see him for a while.

Finally, I heard him laugh. I looked up to see him smiling. _Why is he smiling? I didn't want to kiss him and he's happy? _"You called me Jake… That's the first time you've called me something other than my full first name. I can see I'm getting somewhere. I don't need that kiss yet, I can wait."

He winked at me. I thought about what he said. _Maybe he is getting somewhere… _I couldn't resist smiling back at him, his big, dumb grin completely takes over whatever emotion you had. I rolled my eyes, "Alright, let's go."


	8. Shower

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

8. SHOWER

Waking up to the musky, woodsy scent that is Jacob is something I like. I couldn't explain it if I wanted to, there was just something about being safe and secure knowing he'd be there when I opened my eyes. Lord knows I've had my fair share of heart breaks. Waking up to find the person I was sleeping with had left.

Maybe that was why I didn't want to hurt Jacob. Because I know all to well what it feels like to be rejected. But it would have to be worse for him. He is bonded to me. It would be like the Earth telling to Moon to stop following it.

I lifted my head off of Jacob's chest to meet his tender face eyeing me softly. "Good morning." His smile was prominent even as the words left his mouth.

"Hi." It was nice never needing a blanket as long as I slept next to (or on top of as the case me be) Jacob. No matter how cold it was outside, he constantly emanated heat.

We started our second morning waking up together much like the first, some nice conversation as I remained lying on him. To someone looking at this situation from the outside it must look like we were an item. And I suppose in a way we were. But not in the normal sense. He _needed_ me and I liked his company. Something about being near him just makes me happy.

"Oh by the way, my dad came back form staying at Charlie's early this morning. He already knows I imprinted on you, so don't worry." He patted my head.

_Don't worry?_ Of course I was going to worry. I suppose this qualifies as meeting your girlfriend's parents. And I've already spent two nights together with him. I was mostly just afraid he would give me dirty looks for taking advantage of his son. I guess I was. I hadn't really returned any of his affection and I'm sure behind the happy mask he wears whenever he's near me, he's hurt by it. But, I want to meet him anyway. Just to start out on the right foot. "I'm glad he's back, I'd like to meet him."

"Great." He got off the bed and opened the door heading into the kitchen.

I was taken aback by the fact he actually left me alone. It was weird. I'm wasn't sure if I liked it. I got up and followed suit. His dad rolled himself in his wheelchair into the kitchen where Jacob leaned against the counter. I'm assuming Jacob could sense I was nervous, because he walked over to me and placed his hand on the small of my back. "Dad, this is Terry."

"Hi." I said holding my hand out for a nice, friendly 'please-don't-hate-me' kind of handshake. The age lines by his eyes wrinkled as he took me in. Making judgment about me based on what I look like and how I presented myself within the fifteen seconds I've been out here.

A smile finally crossed his face as he reached up and grabbed my hand in a firm handshake, "Nice to meet you, Terry. I'm Billy."

Relief washed over me like a tidal wave. _He accepts me in his son's life. Wait… Why am I so concerned if he likes me? I'm just friends with his son. _Though Jacob did imprint on me, I wasn't sure if I could love him. I mean, it's a strange thing to accept. I needed some time alone with my thoughts. "If you'll excuse me, I'd like to go take a shower."

"Alright, nice meeting you." Billy smiled again, and backed his chair up into the living room to watch, what I assumed to be some sports program.

"There, was that so bad?" Jacob asked as I walked into the bathroom.

I turned around to close the door only to walk into a wall of muscle. He apparently had followed me into the bathroom. "Oh. Hello there, Jacob's chest. Long time, no see." I stood there and laughed before I removed my face from him torso. "Thanks Jacob, but I can handle it form here."

"Oh really? Where are the towels then?" He crossed his arms across his chest, knowing full well I had no idea.

"Ok fine. Where are the towels, oh mystical know-it-all?" I copied his stance down to the sly expression plastered on his face.

"Right here." He reached down and pulled a fresh towel from under the sink. "If you need anything else…" He stared into my eyes as he handed me the towel.

"No, I'm alright…" He turned to leave and I instinctively reached out and touched my hand to his arm. "Umm… Thanks…"

Without turning around, he just nodded as he left the bathroom, closing the door behind him. _What's going on with me? I almost asked him to… _I got lost in my own thoughts as I struggled to turn on the shower head.

"You gotta twist both handles at the same time." Jacob's voice called from down the hall. I could tell he had a smile on his face.

Finally I got the water running and I undressed. I stepped into the water stream, feeling calmness run over my body. _He gets me so worked up. _I smiled to myself, only briefly, as my thoughts drifted to how I keep hurting him. _I need to make it up to him… But how? What can I bring myself to do that I won't regret? _I turned, so as to let the water trail over my face as I lost myself in my thoughts.

A knock on the door startled me. "Yes?"

"Do you think I could come in to use the toilet? I really need to go." I was skeptical at first, but Jacob was begging, obviously sincere.

"Yeah I guess."

I heard the door open, "Thanks." I watched his silhouette as he walked over to the toilet and sat down. A sigh of relief left his throat. Apparently this was going to take a while. I turned away, and started to wash the soap off of my body, losing myself in my thoughts again.

I finally turned off the water, and reached outside the shower to grab my towel which found my hand easier than I thought. I began to dry off in the shower, and stepped out with the towel over my head. The sound of the faucet, shocked me into realizing Jacob hadn't left the bathroom yet. "Jesus, Jacob!" I pulled the towel off of my head and instantly wrapped it around my body.

"What? You said I could use the toilet. I never said it was going to be quick." He dried his hands and just stared at me like he normally did.

"You didn't think that telling me you were still in here was important?" I was seriously upset.

He looked confused. "I assumed you knew, I didn't think I needed to constantly remind you I was in here. It was only for like three minutes anyway. How could you not have known I was here?"

_How could I not have known? _If it really was only three minutes, then maybe there was something in my subconscious that wanted to be exposed to Jacob. To be vulnerable with him. "Can I finish drying off now?"

"Of course. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." His shoulders slumped as he walked out of the room.

"Jake… Wait. I… I'm not mad. Stop beating yourself up, you just surprised me. That's all." I had a burning desire to make him feel better.

He spun on his heel, turning to face me with a huge grin on his face. "So I can stay?"

I rolled my eyes, "Get out of here." I pushed him out and could hear him laughing as he walked down the hall. I couldn't help but smile.


	9. Wolf

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

9. WOLF

As I walked into Jacob's room, towel wrapped around my waist, I noticed my clothes weren't where I had left them. I started to search the room with one hand holding my towel up.

"They're in the wash. I figured I should wash them for you seeing as though you haven't gotten any more clothes from the Cullen's house. You know Bella's called while you were in the shower. She says she's got something important to tell the both of us. I'll be right back." Jacob left his room and walked down the hall. He came back a few minutes later with two bowls of cereal. "We can stop by after I introduce you to the pack." He said, handing me a bowl.

I took the bowl and sat on his bed. We ate in silence for a few minutes with Jacob's eyes constantly on me. It was apparent he was enjoying me eating in just a towel. "So, is there anything I should know before meeting them?"

Jacob thought for a minute before he said, "Not really… I'm just sure Paul and Jared are going to love that I imprinted on a guy, so be prepared for some mocking…"

I dropped my spoon into the bowl. "Wait, you haven't told them? I thought you said you told Sam? Can't they hear his thoughts?"

"I did tell Sam. I also asked him not to think about it. They can only hear what we think of at the time. Sam's been able to phase the longest, so he's picked up some ways to distract himself." He looked down, rubbing his thumb on his bowl. "I just hope no one is a wolf when I show you what I look like. I won't be able to keep my thoughts off of you. I just don't want them to know it like that. I want to tell them in person."

"Well you don't need to show me your wolf form today. You can show me tomorrow, or later today." Anything, anything to make life easier for Jacob.

He looked back up at me, "No. You wanted to see it today. I'll show you today." He smiled and took my bowl from me. "Your clothes are under the bed…" He laughed as he ran out of his room.

I sighed and reached under his bed, low and behold my clothes were neatly folded underneath. "Jacob…" I dressed myself and walked out of his room. As I walked out into the kitchen I saw out the window Jacob was standing in his back yard. He waved to me, beckoning me outside.

As I walked out the door I started talking, "We don't need to do this now if you don't want to. Really, I can wait."

"Nonsense. No time like the present. Now before I phase I have a question for you." A smile crept across his face.

The curiosity of what this question would be was killing me, "And what question is that?"

"Would you rather see me naked now, or after you've seen me as a wolf?" He chuckled a little, but could tell by the look on my face I had no idea what he was talking about. "Terry, when I phase if I'm wearing clothes, they'll rip to shreds and I'll need you to get me some more after. So I usually take my clothes off first. And I want you to watch the hole process of phasing so again I'll ask, before or after?"

"Before I guess. I don't want you to ruin your clothes if you don't have to." Seeing Jacob naked really wasn't high on my to-do list. _Though it wouldn't be much different from what I see now. He only ever wears just shorts anyway. I wouldn't really be seeing anything else given how far away I am. …Not that I would be looking anyway. _Before I got lost in my thoughts, I noticed Jacob had taken his shorts off and was walking over towards me naked.

"Here, can you hold these?" His smile covered all of his face. He started walking away from me and I noticed just how muscular he really was. He was _all_ muscle. It was weird, I couldn't really look away… He turned back to me, smile still there, "Ok ready? Don't blink or you'll miss it."

I nodded my head and he clenched his fists as they began to shake, within about two seconds the shaking had spread up his arms to his chest, and down his legs until he just exploded into the shape of a huge wolf. He was right, if I had blinked, I would've missed it.

He was the most beautiful and majestic animal I've seen. And he was big. A good seven feet tall and maybe ten feet in length. Russet, brown fur covered his body, that swayed in the cool breeze. He took a step forwards, almost cautiously, like he thought I was afraid. I wasn't afraid, I was just shocked.

After a few seconds he walked the rest of the way over to me, stopping a good three feet away. I was still amazed at the sheer size of him. A wolf about as tall as a horse. I reached my hand out, I wanted to touch him, to feel his fur against my hand. His beautiful brown eyes never left my own eyes.

As soon as my hand touched fur, I just went forwards and hugged him. I tried to wrap my arms around his thick neck and could barely do it. I stepped back and just took him all in. He was really a beautiful creature. His head tilted to one side, and he let his tongue fall out of his mouth, giving the routine 'I'm a happy dog' face. It made me laugh.

He stepped closer to me and licked the entirety of my face. If he couldn't kiss me as a human, he was going to do it as a wolf. I just looked at him for a few seconds before I wiped his drool off of my face. Jacob barked out what sounded like a laugh. He turned around and walked away from me before he phased back into human-form. I wasn't entirely sure how that big wolf fit into his human body.

"Ok maybe you'd see me naked before _and_ after." He laughed as he walked over and took his shorts. As he put them on he said, "So? What did you think?"

"You were huge. I can't even believe how big you were." I shook my head in disbelief, recalling the image.

He just stared at me before bursting into laughter. "No no. I meant what did you think about me as a wolf?" He laughed more.

I rolled my eyes. "Wow, real mature Jake. That's what I was talking about you fool."

"I know, I know. I was just having a little fun. I mean you kinda walked into that one." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders as we walked towards Edward's Volvo. "So really, did you like my wolf body?"

"It was cool. I liked your fur color and how soft it was. I can't imagine you being ferocious though." I looked up at him.

We got to the car and he opened my door me. "That's because I didn't show you my teeth. Maybe next time." He smiled at me, as I got into the seat. He closed the door and started laughing again.

"Grow up!" I called out to him as he walked behind the car to the driver door.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. It's just really funny." He kept laughing as he started the car and began driving down the street.

I crossed my arms over my chest, and turned my head to look out my window. I smiled a little to myself. _I did walk into it._


	10. Pack

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

10. PACK

We drove in silence. A very serious face was all Jacob kept, like he wasn't really going to enjoy this. _Maybe I shouldn't meet them. He seems really tense. _Truth be told, I wanted to see the pack. Really bad. I wanted to see them as wolves too. If they were anything like Jacob as a wolf, they would look pretty amazing as well.

Jacob finally broke the silence, "Terry, whatever they say… don't… don't get upset. Please? I mean, a few of them are really gonna drill this imprinting on a guy deal pretty hard. I'm most likely gonna be the one they make fun of, but just in case, cut them some slack. They mean well." He smiled at me, not his regular smile, not the one that makes the atmosphere of the room change. This smile was forced.

The trees on the side of the road gave way to a vast clearing. Jacob pulled over on the side of the road and shut Edward's car off. After getting out of the car he ran over to my side and opened my door for me, flashing another forced smile. I was getting concerned as to whether or not he was going to make it through this.

"Looks like you get to see me naked again. I gotta phase to let them know we're here." He took of his shorts again and handed them to me. "Thanks." Standing a few feet away from me again, his body exploded into a wolf. If I wasn't so worried about him, I'd be amazed by how that works.

Jacob trotted a few paces away from me before letting loose an incredibly loud howl. I had to cover my ears. Turning back to me he did his 'happy dog' face, then phased back into human-form. I was confused, "Why did you have to howl? Can't they just hear your thoughts?"

He walked over to me and grabbed his shorts. As he put them back on he said, "Well yeah but only if they are wolves at the same time. So if we want to meet somewhere, we howl, and even if they're human, they'll hear it and come to where it came from."

Not but ten seconds after Jacob finished explaining, did I see a giant black wolf walk out of the trees that lined the clearing. From what I could make out the wolf just stared at Jacob. From the corner of my eye I saw Jacob nod. The big black wolf disappeared into the trees again. I reached out and held Jacob's hand. I felt compelled to comfort him, like it was my job. I had no idea why, I just had to. He looked down at me and smiled. The real Jacob-smile this time. I could see he had a renewed sense about him. He squeezed my hand in return.

He looked back up. I eventually looked over to where the wolf had gone into the woods, only to see six half-naked guys walking out of the trees. _None of them wear shirts… I'm surprised they wear anything at all. _They walked in a 'V' pattern, with what I'm assuming is the leader, Sam, in front. To his right walked a guy with a very serious face, almost angry. It kind of scared me a little. On Sam's left was a guy shorter than the rest, and he was smiling and seemed friendly enough. Behind the three in the front were three more guys, all talking to each other looking at me and Jacob then back to each other. _Six. Jacob said there was seven. Where's the girl?_

When the pack got close, they spread out in a line. I expected Sam to talk but the angry looking guy spoke, more like yelled, first, "Who is this?! Jacob! You howled in front of this guy?!" He stepped in closer to Jacob. He was tall but not as tall as Jacob. "First you told Bella about us and now this guy?! What's wrong with you?!" His face twisted into a snarl, as he looked at me.

Jacob stepped in front of me, fists shaking, and spoke in a voice that I never heard him use before. It was threatening. "Step off. Now."

"Paul. Enough." It was Sam. His voice was calm, but full of authority. _So the angry one is Paul… _Sam spoke now to Jacob, "Can you tell them who he is now?"

As Paul stepped back into line, I noticed two guys on the left whispering to each other again. Jacob took a deep breath and looked at me. I stared into his eyes for a few seconds before he slowly started nodding his head. "Uhh, guys? This is Terry. Terry meet the guys." He went down the line, introducing them all by name. "That's Quil, Embry, Paul, Sam, Seth, and Jared." Taking another deep breath, he said, "I don't know how else to say this so I'll just come out with it… I-I imprinted on him."

The two guys on the left, Embry and Quil, turned to each other, and Embry laughed, "Ha! Told you so. Now gimme the five bucks." Quil rolled his eyes and reached in his pocket and handed him the money.

Paul looked angry. He was trying very hard to control that anger, but it was still very much there. There was another expression in his face. _Disgust? _Sam just looked at him, ready to keep him in check.

Seth looked thoughtful for a moment, and then smiled a friendly smile at me. I was glad someone accepted me here.

"Really Jake? On a guy?" Jared smirked and the mocking began.

Quil made a face and started laughing, "Ugh man, now we're gonna hear Jacob's thoughts about doin' it with this guy."

Embry knelt down in front of Sam begging, "Please Sam, please order Jake not to phase. Leah is enough constantly imagining herself with you, I don't wanna have to suffer through Jacob now too." He stood up laughing and walked over to Jacob, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Oh man Jake, only you…"

Jacob shrugged his hand off, and turned to me, looking for my reaction to all this. Quite honestly it was funny. I didn't know why Jacob was so worried about this. _I like these guys. Sure Paul is a little scary but, I'm sure he'll come around. _I smiled at him, and he smiled back. Facing Embry again he said, "Yeah, listening to Leah fantasize about doing Sam is pretty disturbing."

It was my turn now. "But Jake, wouldn't Leah fantasizing about Sam turn you on, seeing as how you imprinted on a guy?"

Embry, Quil, Jared, and Seth all busted out laughing. Even Paul smirked a little. Quil walked over to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, "Haha! I like this guy!"

Jacob looked hurt, but only for a minute when he realized it was all in good fun. "Oh ok, I see how it is. You turn on me when more shirtless, muscled men show up."

They all (minus Paul) laughed. That's when I looked at them all. They were big and muscular, like Jacob. I felt highly inadequate being five-eleven and skinny. They were intimidating, but they accepted me. But really, what choice did they have? You imprint on who you imprint on.

While I was busy degrading myself for being a twig compared to them Jacob must of mistaken my expression. He walked away from Sam to where I was with Embry and Quil, and pulled me aside. "Are you ok? You know I was just joking around right? I don't even know if you like guys or anything."

He was back to the Jacob I knew, worrisome about everything. Making sure I was ok all the time. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little envious of you guys and all your steroid usage. I mean look at me I'm gangly." I smiled as they laughed.

Embry, Quil, and Jared started flexing and while Jared said, "Yeah, it's a wolf thing. Once we reach a certain age our bodies fill out."

Paul suddenly burst out laughing. It startled me, as it was the first time he showed any emotion other than anger. He walked up to me and flexed, being almost as muscular as Jacob. He smiled and said, "It's ok to be jealous. You can touch them if you want."

He started laughing some more as Sam walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Alright, enough guys. Let's go. We can all hang out later. Terry, nice meeting you."

Sam turned and began walking towards the trees where they entered. The rest of the pack stopped flexing and started to say their goodbyes.

"Later." Paul smirked as he followed Sam.

Jared just laughed.

Seth came over and shook my hand, "We should all hang out sometime. Jacob it's been a while since me, you and Edward hung out."

Jacob nodded in recognition.

Quil and Embry walked over to me and Jacob at the same time. Quil tipped his head and said, "Catch you later."

Embry started to laugh as he said, "Jacob be sure to go easy on this guy. I don't think he can handle an animal, if you know what I'm saying."

As the last of the pack disappeared into the woods, Jacob finally turned to me. "I'm sorry about that. You're not upset are you? They can be a handful sometimes…"

I just smiled at him. "Jake, it was fun. I like them. They have great senses of humor. I really would like to hang out with them again."

Jacob smiled down at me as he wrapped his arm around my waist leading me to Edward's Volvo. "I'm glad you like them. It means a lot. I'm just sorry they kept going on about us having sex."

"Jake, there a bunch of guys. All they think about is sex." I said as I got into the car.

When Jacob sat in the driver's seat he turned to me and said, "That's not true. I don't think about sex all the time. I think about you."

"About _having sex_ with me." I corrected. I smiled and he smiled too.

"Well I mean sometimes I do. You know, like when you're lying on me at night." He started the car and started driving down the road.

"Ok, no more sleeping on you then." I laughed.

He made a horrified expression. "Oh no, wait. I didn't mean that. I meant…" He struggled looking for something to say.

I just laughed as we headed towards the Cullen's house.


	11. News

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

11. NEWS

The ride to the Cullen's house took longer than I expected. Mainly because Jacob drove in the opposite direction to get the clearing where I met the pack. As we drove along we had fairly light conversations about his pack and why the girl wolf, Leah, wasn't there with the rest. Apparently she had some issues to work out. Jacob wouldn't go into much detail.

We pulled up to the Cullen's house, and something came to my mind. "Jacob, if Edward is home… Won't he be able to read our thoughts? And know you imprinted on me?"

Jacob looked thoughtful. "I suppose we could try to keep our minds off of it. I mean we're here because Bella has news for us. But I'm not sure I can keep my mind off of you for long though…"

"Well you're gonna have to try. Here they come." I opened the car door as Edward and Bella came out to greet us. Edward's hand was wrapped around Bella's waist as per the usual. "Hi guys." Edward was eyeing Jacob as he stepped out of the drivers seat. "Oh, yeah, I figured Jacob was a better driver than me so I let him drive."

"I see. Now I just need to burn the car to rid my seat of wet dog smell." He cracked a crooked smile.

"Oh kinda like we had to do with your clothes? Took me a good hour to clean those to get the smell out." Jacob walked over to me and stood what I thought was too close for just friends.

I immediately changed my thoughts to something else. The dinner I had with Jacob. "Yeah we didn't even get to the restaurant until like nine."

Thoughts of the rest of the night were creeping into my head but Bella interrupted them. "I don't know what you two keep arguing about. You guys smell fine to me, don't they Terry?"

_She really likes to make this difficult doesn't she? _I acted quickly before thoughts of waking to the smell of Jacob popped into my head, "I wouldn't know really. I don't make it a point to smell people…"

I couldn't help but smell Jacob's scent given his close proximity to me. I started recalling the two previous mornings, only to be saved by Jacob, "So can we come in or what? Don't you have some 'news' or something?"

"Yes, of course." Edward and Bella turned to walk in the house.

I whispered to Jacob, "This is getting really hard… I don't know how long I can keep this up. I'm surprised you're doing so well."

Jacob didn't say anything but walked with me into the house.

"Take a seat guys, this is kind of important." Bella started pacing around the room. Edward sat still as stone on the couch with an amused expression. I sat on a reclining chair and Jacob sat on the floor in front of it.

At this point it was really easy to keep my thoughts away because I was genuinely interested in what Bella had to say.

"Well you know how me and Edward have been in love for a while?" I pretty much knew where this was headed at this point. I let her continue before I showed any signs of emotion. "Umm… well we're getting married." She held our her right hand and on the ring finger sat a beautiful diamond, nestled in a silver ring.

"Oh wow congratulations!" I stood up and hugged Bella, "I'm happy for you two, you're good together." I looked down at Jacob, who, surprisingly, hadn't gotten up to congratulate them. He had a very serious face and I followed his eyes to where he was staring. He was staring at Edward. Edward's expression was hard to read. I wasn't sure what was going on. _Was Jacob still in love with Bella? Is he mad at Edward for marrying her?_

"No, nothing of the sort, Terry." Edward stood up and smiled at me. "Not even remotely close. Would you mind coming with me? I'd like to talk to you in the kitchen if you don't mind."

"What's this about? I thought you had something to ask Jacob?" Bella looked confused.

"I do, but Jacob has something he should tell you. And, I'd like the opportunity to talk to Terry." He smiled at her and lead me towards the kitchen. I turned my head to look at Jacob, who's expression basically said 'I tried as long as I could'.

When we got to the kitchen, Edward leaned up against the counter and just looked at me for a few minutes. I felt uncomfortable. "So what's on your mind Edward?"

"Wait for it." I had no idea what he was talking about.

That was until I heard, 'You what?!?' come from the other room. "Oh, that. I see."

"So he did? He imprinted on you?" Edward was pretty curious. It didn't seem like he needed the information, it was like he wanted validation.

"So I'm assuming you read his mind?" I shifted uncomfortably under his probing glare.

"Yes. What gave it away was when Bella announced our wedding."

"Really? What did he think of?" He hadn't given it away outside when we were talking about last night or his scent._ But talking about the wedding?_

Edward nodded his head answering my thoughts. "I'm not sure if I should tell you what he thought about… But I figure it's only fair considering I probably wasn't meant to see them."

The suspense was killing me. "And? What was it?"

Edward stared at me for a few seconds, "He thought about marrying you."

I was taken back by that. I mean, I should've figured he'd think about something like that but actually having his thoughts confirmed is something entirely different. "Oh…"

"And I just thought I'd let you know I was right."

"What?"

"I had thought Jacob imprinted on you when I saw the face he was making when he first saw you, in your head. I wasn't entirely sure, but I had a strong feeling." He smirked.

"That's why you wanted me to go see him so much…" It started to make sense.

Edward nodded. "I realized if I was right, he'd need to see you. Because he was probably hurting and he couldn't figure out why."

We stood there in silence for a while. I was thinking over everything that had happened up to that point and I'm sure Edward was partaking of all of the information.

He finally spoke, "So, do you love him?"

There was the question I didn't want to answer, the question I didn't have an answer for. "I…I don't know… I mean…"

I struggled to try to explain what I was feeling, then Edward spoke again. "I see. I know exactly what you mean." He was responding to my thoughts on how I felt. I couldn't get it into words but he was apparently able to read the feeling in my head. "Shall we go back and see them? I'm sure Jacob would appreciate your company after having to tell Bella by himself."

I couldn't believe Edward had known about Jacob's imprinting. I figured he had left last night just so he could wait until Jacob was ready to tell everyone, before he read his mind to confirm it. We walked into the living room and Jacob's face was rather depressing. _I wish I was in here when he told her… I wanted to help him be strong…_

"I apologize." Edward said behind me, "I had only thought it would have been better for him to tell her by himself. I didn't know you wanted to be there."

I sat on the ground next to Jacob and he wrapped his big arm around me. "And I've barely been able to keep my thoughts off of him since." Jacob stared at me and his depressing face got happier.

I was glad that I could make Jacob feel better, even if just being there was the cause. I stared into his brown eyes and started to lose myself in them. He stared at me with a smoldering passion that I didn't know if I could ever feel towards anyone. My mind started to drift towards thoughts about the imprinting, and if I will ever feel the same towards Jacob as he feels towards me.

"So getting back to your news, when is the wedding?" Jacob never let go of me. It felt like a need for me to be right there with him. Apparently telling Bella was harder on him than I thought. I wrapped my arm around him and placed it on his back. He was still facing Bella but he smiled the smile I knew. My smile.

"It's actually very soon… I have invitations for you both with the date and time. It's in just about two weeks." Bella stood up and got two envelopes from a drawer. She handed each of us one. The design was by far to complex and intricate to have been Bella's choice.

Edward cleared his throat. "Jacob, I have a very important question for you."

"What's that?" Jacob looked up from the envelope.

"I would like to know if you'd do me the honor of being my best man at the wedding. I know how much your relationship with Bella means and I want you to be a part of the ceremony."

Jacob thought for a moment. "I don't… I don't know…"

Edward stared at Jacob, "Oh, I see."

"What? What's going on?" I wanted to know what Jacob was thinking about, and why being a part of his best friend's wedding was such a big choice.

"Jacob doesn't want to leave you alone during the ceremony." Edward said matter-of-factly.

Jacob made a face at Edward.

I was shocked at his reasoning. "Jake, you have to do it. I don't want to be the reason you're not part of Bella's special day. I want you to do it."

Jacob looked at me again. He nodded his head, "You're right. I'll do it."

"Thank you." Edward said politely.

Bella jumped off the couch and kneeled next to Jacob hugging him, "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Bells." Jacob smiled.

Bella's face lit up. "I'm glad to hear that, Jake. Oh! I almost forgot. I have invitations for the pack if they want to come too."

"I'll ask them. I'm sure at least Seth will come. But if you don't mind I'd like to go home now. Explaining imprinting takes a lot out of me." Jacob's eyes looked heavy.

As Bella gave Jacob the invitations for the pack, I turned to Edward. "Would you mind giving us a ride? I want to give you your car back, but then we'd have no way to get there." I stood up and Jacob followed right behind.

"Of course." Edward grabbed his keys, and he and Bella walked to his car.

Before we left to the car Jacob pulled me aside, "I'm really glad you still wanna stay with me."

"You thought I'd want to stay here? And what, miss listening to your heartbeat lullaby? Not a chance." I smiled at him.

Jacob laughed as he wrapped his arm around me and walked me to Edward's car.


	12. Hurt

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

12. HURT

I opened my eyes and lifted my head, for the third morning in a row, from Jacob's chest. His eyes met mine as he said his usual 'Good morning.' with the smile I've seen so many times in the past three days.

The remainder of last night went by rather quickly. The car ride to Jacob's house was relatively quiet, Bella only occasionally asking Jacob a question about imprinting on a guy. He sat right next to me, with his arm around my shoulders, his eyes never leaving my own. Once we got to the house, we said our goodbyes and Jacob made dinner. After we ate, well after I ate and Jacob feasted, we retired early. Falling asleep while just talking to each other.

I like the mornings with him the best. Waking up to his smiling face makes me happy. Only, today was different.

"Jake… listen. I'm really sorry I wasn't there with you when you told Bella. I wanted to be there… To be there if you needed me." I looked away from him. I still felt bad, and I didn't want to look into his eyes.

"Terry, it's fine. Edward, as much as I hate to admit it, was right. It was something I needed to tell her myself. And I know you're always there. Besides you were just in the other room. If I really needed you, I could've gotten to you." He took my face in his hands, staring into my eyes, piercing my soul the way he does so often. "Stop beating yourself up."

I smiled. Jacob had this effect on me. I wondered if it's all people he affects. "Alright. If you insist."

"Now tell me, what do you want to do today? You've met the guys, saw me as a wolf, there's not much else to do around here…"

That reminded me of how fun they were. "Do you think we could hang out with the pack again today? You know, maybe for longer than a few minutes like yesterday?"

Jacob's face turned sour. "You really like being around all those half-naked, muscle-heads don't you?"

I sighed. "Jacob, you're the only half-naked, muscle-head I care about. And the only one I currently spend the night with."

"Currently? It's Paul isn't it? You wanna sleep with him, don't you?" He started to laugh.

"Paul?! Hell no, he scares the crap out of me. His mood swings are terrifying. One minute he's ready to rip my head of and the next his laughing hysterically."

Jacob's smile faded. "That upset you didn't it? That he snarled at you…"

_Speaking of mood swings… Here we go again. _I got off Jacob's chest and sat up. "Jacob, you have to stop doing that. I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me so much. If something's wrong I'll let you know. Just please stop."

I felt his hand on my shoulder. "You're right. I'm sorry. I just… I just get this feeling like I need to protect you and make sure you're ok. I'll try to back off a bit."

I looked back at him. He was looking down with his shoulders slumped. I hated being frank with Jacob. _He always takes it so personally. _"Jake, look… Come here." I held my arms open for a hug, which he gladly accepted. "Jacob, _I'm _sorry. I just get frustrated some times and like my dad used to say, 'you always hurt the ones you're closest to'."

He leaned back and looked at me. "You mean you're closest to me?"

"Of course, who else would I be so close to that their crazy, biological, wolf-thing makes them attached to me?" He laughed. "And besides, Jake, I just _feel_ closest to you. Like I can tell you anything, and know you'll always be there for me."

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Anything? You can tell me anything?" I didn't know where this was going, but I wished I had. "Do you love me?"

His facial expression didn't show that he would care one way or the other. But I knew if I said something wrong it would hurt him. He wouldn't show it around me, but it would hurt him. I took his face in my hands. "Jake I… I don't know yet… I'm not sure I know what love is."

"I understand. I felt that way once. I thought I was in love with Bella. Then I met you." He smiled at me.

"But you did love Bella. She told me so herself. She told me how it hurt her that she couldn't return your love. There were many late night phone calls during that time. She would be crying and I could barely make out what she was saying, but I could tell she was hurting for you. Because you loved her so much and she was smitten with someone else."

"That was before I truly knew what love was. You said yourself you don't know what it is. Now I know. Love is what I feel for you, every second of everyday." He really knew how to prove his point.

I sat close to him. "Jake, I won't do what Bella did to you. I won't play with your emotions like that. From what I understand, she had basically used you. And taken advantage of your love. And once Edward came back, she was all over him again. I won't do that to you. I promise."

Jacob hugged me, resting his cheek on the top of my head. "Thank you. And you're right. I did love her. And it hurt so much. I loved her with all I had. I felt closer to her than I've ever felt closer to anyone, aside from you. She told me how I was beautiful, and she hung out with me all the time while Edward was skipping out on her. She showed signs that she loved me, and… I tried to make a move, to try to… bring us together. She rejected me. Then she saw Dr. Cullen's car, and next thing I knew she had flown off to Italy for Edward. Leaving me alone with the heartache."

It was different hearing it from Jacob's point of view. I saw now that Bella was _truly_ using Jacob, and the second Edward came back in the picture she up and left him. I couldn't understand how she could do that to him.

I looked up and saw tears in Jacob's eyes. I wiped them away and held him close to me, not wanting to let him experience that pain again.


	13. Hassle

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

13. HASSLE

The drive to the clearing seemed to take much longer this time. It always seems to take longer when you're waiting for something you really want. And I really wanted to hang out with the pack for a second time.

I was so glad Jacob was so cool about bringing me to see them again. Bella had told me that Edward, and the rest of the Cullens for that matter, were completely against Bella hanging out with just Jacob, let alone the whole pack.

I guess even though Jacob imprinted on me, Edward is still more over-protective of Bella than Jacob is of me. And that makes me wonder, does Edward care for Bella's safety more? Or does it mean that Jacob values what I want to do more than Edward does?

I'd like to think it's the latter.

Jacob finally broke through my thoughts. "We're here."

I shook my head trying to get my thoughts back in order. I was really far into them. "I'm excited." I turned and smiled at him.

"I know you are. And that's what worries me. I mean Edward never wanted to let me see Bella, and after seeing Paul snarl at you, I started to think that maybe Edward was on to something." He looked at me with big, brown eyes, full of what I found to be unnecessary worry.

I found it amusing that he was thinking roughly the same thing I was not a moment ago. I wanted to reassure him that I was fine. "Jake, if I get uncomfortable and things get hairy, I'll let you know. And then you can save me."

He smiled his big, dumb smile. "If things get hairy, I'm kicking someone's ass!"

"What?" I must've missed what was so funny.

Jacob just looked at me. "You know, hairy... As in, wolves. 'Cause they have… lots of hair…"

I rolled my eyes. "Wow Jake, wow. That's all I'm going to say to that."

"Oh c'mon! I thought it was funny." He got out of the car and walked to my door, opening it for me.

I sighed. His constant need to do things for me was somehow getting on my nerves. "Unfortunately, you think lots of things are funny. And most of them really aren't…" I stepped out of Jacob's black Volkswagen Rabbit. Not nearly as flashy or expensive as Edward's car, but this one fit Jacob nicely.

Jacob closed my door and started walking me into the clearing. "Yes they are! You just don't appreciate my sense of humor…"

"Well I would, if you had one…" I laughed. I liked having these kinds of conversation with him. They were fun.

"Oh wow, that was harsh." Jacob dropped his shorts once more, handing them to me. He stared at me for a second and then started laughing as he walked a few feet away.

I couldn't figure out why he was laughing until he exploded into a huge wolf. Then I remembered. "Real funny Jacob! Grow up!"

He continued to bark out a laugh and then he turned away from me and howled. It was another eardrum shattering howl. He phased back into human form, and swaggered his way back over to me. "Enjoying the show?"

"Next time keep your damn shorts on!" He started laughing harder as I shoved his shorts back at him.

"Oh I see, you want me to keep them on so they rip when I phase. That way I'm forced to be naked until we get more clothes." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Look, if you want me to be naked for you, all you have to do is ask."

_I can't win. He's got a comeback for everything. _I smiled. Jacob kept laughing as six male figures stepped out of the trees. They weren't in the 'V' formation this time. I assumed it was because now we're all just friends, this wasn't a 'pack secret' meeting. Just guys hanging out.

By the time they had gotten over to us, Jacob had finally stopped laughing. Quil had heard Jacob's laugh, well I'm sure they all did, but Quil was the one who said something. "What's so funny, Jacob?"

Jacob looked down at me and smiled. "Nothing."

I rolled my eyes. "He thinks I want him to rip his shorts to shreds so he's forced to be naked around me."

"And do you?" Embry laughed.

"It's not that high on my to-do list. I can wait." I might as well just go along with it. If these guys are as persistent as Jacob, I'll never convince them of anything else.

Paul smiled and walked over to me and Jacob. "If you want we can all get naked for you." He laughed and the rest of the pack joined in.

"Why am I the one getting picked on? I mean he's the one who imprinted on a guy." I went to point at Jacob, but he was a few feet away talking to Sam. I wondered what they were talking about, but my attention was soon elsewhere.

"So have you two done it yet? I mean when I imprinted on Kim, we did it by day two." Jared obviously wanted some sort of detail about Jacob and my sexual relationship. Sadly for him, we didn't have one.

Quil looked at me. "Jacob hasn't been running lately, so we haven't been able to find out through him. We figured asking you would be an easy way to get information."

"And why would asking me be easy?" I didn't think this was going in a good direction.

Paul laughed. "Because we're bigger than you, and can make you talk if we wanted to."

"No, we haven't done anything like that. We do sleep together, yes actually sleep." Being grilled for information sucked.

"What a disgrace. Jacob doesn't even have the backbone to ask for what he wants." Paul shook his head.

"It's not-" I started, but was interrupted.

Embry was the one who cut me off. "He's completely subservient. No wonder he's not the Alpha."

Jacob was being insulted. And I started to get very angry. They kept going on and on about Jacob. I couldn't get a word in, they all kept interrupting me. All of them except Seth he just sat there. That made me mad too. Seth wouldn't even stand up for someone he calls a friend. I eventually blew my top. "Damn it! You guys just shut up! You don't even know the first thing about how Jacob feels! He's not subservient, he just listens to what I want and my feelings. I keep telling him we can do whatever he wants to do but he just says he's happy to do whatever I want."

None of them seemed phased by my ranting. Paul just looked at me and said, "And you believe him?"

I didn't know what to do. I was so blinded with rage at the pack for insulting Jacob like that. And then Paul had the nerve to give me the idea that Jacob was lying to me even though I told him to be completely honest to me.

I started to yell at them again, but then Jacob laid a hand on my shoulder. "What's going on? Are you ok?"

Something inside me snapped. Words started pouring out of my mouth before I could even think about what I was saying. "Enough, Jacob! You don't need to check up on me every hour of every day! I can handle some things on my own, I'm not as weak as you think I am! This imprinting nonsense is beginning to become more of a hassle than it's worth…"

The words hung in the air for a while. I started to think about what I said and I instantly regretted it. I was cautious about looking up, I didn't want to see what damage my words might have caused. I can't even believe how careless I was to say that, Jacob wants nothing but to make me happy and I basically just told him to screw himself. When I finally looked up, what I saw hurt me.

Jacob just stared at me with the most saddening expression on his face, I can't even begin to describe it. He just stared into my eyes on the verge of tears. I felt so bad. I didn't mean to hurt him. He finally spoke, if you could call it speaking, "…W-what… I… Terry… I'm sorry…"

"Jacob… Don't take that the wrong way, please. I didn't mean it. No one was listening to me. And they were insulting you. I just got so mad… And then you came over and checked if I was ok. I was just… frustrated. And you happened to be there at the wrong time…" I tried to keep him from breaking down. I can even believe how strong of an effect those words had on him. But it was no use, he just stared at me.

"You were frustrated… because of me… I only want to make you happy. Please, what can I do? How can I make it up to you?" He looked a little hopeful at the thought of making me feel better.

_I can't believe this… He's so… determined. What do I do? It wasn't his fault, why is he blaming himself? _"Jacob listen. Please just act normal. Don't go out of your way to make me happy. Just treat me like anyone else you've fallen in love with. Treat me like you treat Bella."

He laughed. I thought that maybe I was getting somewhere. "But Terry, I've never loved anyone before, not if this is love. If this is love anything else I've ever felt is nothing. Nothing compares to what I feel when I look in your eyes. You are my everything. And I will do anything and everything to make you happy." _Then again, maybe not. _

A single tear rolled down his cheek. I gave up. There was no way I could handle him crying. I started to feel physical pain from witnessing him being so upset. "Jake… I… Come here." I reached out and pulled his body to mine, embracing him with all the strength I could muster, which paled in comparison to his. I looked up at him and he still had tears in his eyes. I needed to make him feel better, it was like I had no choice.

I held him tighter to me. "Jacob… please don't be sad. I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to snap at you… I… Jake…" I started to cry. I don't know why, I just did.

Jacob wrapped his arms tightly around me, and we just stood there amongst his pack crying in each others arms. None of the pack said anything. They just let us be. Finally I stopped crying. I looked up at Jacob and he smiled down at me with a tear streaked face. He inhaled deeply to catch his breath. "I will accept your apology, if you accept mine."

"But… You didn't do any-"

"And neither did you." He looked at me with his big, brown eyes. They weren't filled with worry like they were earlier, now they were filled with understanding. "I know where you're coming from. I can step back, I realize that I was being over-bearing. I can fix that."

I laid my head on his chest. "Alright fine. I accept your unneeded apology."

"And I accept yours." When he finally released me from the hug, we turned to face his pack.

They all looked apologetic. Paul spoke. "I'm sorry… I had no idea you guys felt like this for each other."

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have started this whole thing. I mean I know exactly what Jacob feels for you. I feel the same for Kim. I was just joking around, I didn't mean to upset you."

The rest apologized and Sam apologized for not stopping them. Sam decided it would be a good time for them to leave. They all said their good-byes and left. Except for Seth. Seth looked really sad. "Terry… I'm sorry."

"Seth, you didn't do anything."

"I know, that's why I'm apologizing. I should've stood up for Jacob and your relationship. I'm a lousy friend." Seth looked at the ground, ashamed.

Jacob put a hand on Seth's shoulder. "Look Seth, I can understand not saying anything. You didn't want to get attacked for sticking up for us. I'm just a little disappointed."

Seth nodded and then followed the pack into the woods.

I looked up at Jacob. He stared into my eyes, and I hugged him close to me once more.


	14. Measurements

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

14. MEASUREMENTS

The next few days went by rather quickly. They mostly consisted of me trying to make up for snapping at Jacob, and Jacob telling me in wasn't my fault. He said once, "I deserved it." No, he didn't deserve that.

He didn't deserve me telling him that his unconditional love for me was a hassle. He didn't deserve me emasculating him in front of his pack. He didn't deserve my stupidity, that I couldn't see that he truly loves me, and that he was only trying to see if I was ok.

_For all that I've put him through and for all he's done for me, I don't deserve him._

Sometimes I would forget he's the werewolf of the two of us. It amazed me that that even though he's supposed to be the one with problems controlling his anger, I'm the one who has the short temper.

The fact that Jacob makes excuses for my anger and thinks that it was in some way his fault, was mind-boggling. I wished I could figure out what exactly he was thinking.

Then it struck me, just as the telephone rang.

The ring startled me awake. Jacob laughed as my body twitched, "Geez, don't have a heart attack. It's just the phone."

I sat up off of Jacob's chest and he got up to answer the phone. I started to think about who I needed to ask to get my answers.

That's when Jacob said the name. "Yeah? Edward, what's up?"

_Edward! Of course! He can read Jacob's mind and tell me what he thinks about what happened a few days ago._ It was a perfect plan.

"Wait, you mean like now? You're outside? Damn what time is it?" Jacob looked at the clock beside his bed. The red lights read '7:58'. "It's only eight o'clock! Some people need to sleep you know…"

I stared at Jacob. He was acting kind of weird. It was only eight, but this attitude was unusual for him. "What's going on?"

He covered the mouth piece of the phone. "It's just Edward. He wants me to go get measured for a tux. Yeah, I know, at eight in the morning." He answered a question I didn't even ask.

"Well you do need a tuxedo. And with the wedding in about a week, sooner is better than later. Come on. Stop being a baby, let's go." I got up and took off the pajama bottoms and T-shirt I was wearing and put on some clean clothes.

Jacob had hung up the phone at some point and when I turned around he was just staring at me. "You got dressed in front of me?"

I thought about that for a minute. "Yeah, well remember you dressed me once before while I was asleep, so I figured you wouldn't mind."

He just eyed me suspiciously as he put on a T-shirt and shoes. We then walked out to Edward's car.

Edward was leaning against his door. "Alright, ready to go?"

"If we must." Jacob climbed in the backseat.

I thought for a moment on where I should sit. If I sat in the back, Edward would think I was being rude. And if I sat in the front, Jacob would be upset. I figured I upset Jacob enough already so I climbed in next to him.

I heard Edward say something to himself as he got into the driver's seat. It sounded like 'I see.' I could see a smile creep across his face before he turned to face me and Jacob and said, "What? No one wants to sit with me? I won't bite."

_Oh my god. His humor is as bad as Jacob's… _Edward laughed quietly as he started driving down the road.

Jacob started cheering up on the car ride to Seattle. About five minutes into the ride he slid closer to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He was holding me close to him like the night that he told Bella about imprinting on me, like he was afraid I'd leave him.

Trying not to think to much about it, I instead focused on how much more civil Jacob and Edward act around each other. The stories Bella had told me were all about them being at each other's throats. But I guess once Jacob accepted Bella and Edward, things got better.

I looked up at Jacob to see him staring at me. "What?"

"Nothing. I just like being close to you. I especially like how much closer you've been since… you 'snapped' at me." He smiled and held my hand. "Really Terry, you don't have to make it up to me. But I'm not saying I don't enjoy it."

The way he was staring into my eyes the way he does so often, made me feel better. Not that I was the one who needed to feel better. _I_ was the one who yelled at _him. _I should be making him feel better. Which according to him, I've been doing.

I looked up at Edward to see him staring at me in the rear view mirror. He had one eyebrow raised and it made me curious as to what he was thinking. But I'd have my time to ask him later.

"We're here." Edward parked the car in front of a building. He stepped out, onto the sidewalk.

Jacob got out next and I followed him. "Alright, let's get this over with." I didn't know why Jacob didn't want to do this so much.

I would be more concerned with Jacob's current feelings about tuxedos, but I'm really concerned with Jacob's feelings about what happened in the clearing.

"Ah." Edward nodded in understanding. I wasn't sure whether it was to my thoughts or Jacob's. "This way." Edward led the way into the building which had nice furnishings in what I assumed was a waiting room. Why a tailor needed a waiting room was beyond me. We walked the distance of the room and Edward flashed a smile at the receptionist. "Hello. We're here to have this big guy measured for a tuxedo."

"Of course Mr. Cullen. Right this way." Her cheeks were flushed as she turned and lead us down a hallway to another room. How she knew Edward's last name was a mystery to me, but I assumed the Cullen's have done business here before. And with a face like Edward's, its hard to forget. "If you'd just wait in here, he'll be with you in a minute." She smiled politely as she left.

We all just stood there in silence for a few minutes as we waited for the tailor. I wondered if all tailors' business ran in a similar fashion. It seemed like a doctor's office. Edward answered my thoughts. "No, it's just this guy. It may be a little unorthodox, but trust me, he's good."

Just as Edward finished speaking the door opened and a short, rotund man about five feet tall, and pretty close to that around, walked in. "Ahh, Mr. Cullen! Here for another suit?"

"Not me, Jacob here." He said motioning to Jacob. "He needs to be measured for a tuxedo. My wedding's coming up."

The exuberant expression that crossed the tailor's face scared me. Edward laughed. The man said, "A wedding? Fantastic! I will make him look as sharp as I can. When do you need it by?"

"The end of next week."

The extreme emotions this guy was capable of was astounding. "Next week?! For a man that size?! Not possible."

Edward reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. He handed it to the man, who then opened it and his expression changed once more.

"Very convincing, Mr. Cullen. I will have it for you in two days." He turned to Jacob as he tucked the envelope away in his pocket. I could only imagine the monetary denomination that was just handed over. "Ok Jacob. Off with your clothes."

Jacob's face was hysterical. "What?! I'm not stripping for you, ya weirdo." I didn't know whether or not he knew this was a normal part of getting measured. He was rather testy, I wished I knew why.

"Jacob, Jacob… It's to make the measurements more precise. He just needs you in your undergarments." Edward said though a smile.

I knew the look in Jacob's face. And I knew why it was there. It took Edward only a few seconds to figure out why I started laughing, as Jacob's face grew redder. A smile crept across Edward's lips.

"I'm not wearing any…" Jacob's embarrassment was weird and out of place, though. He's not usually ashamed of showing his body. _But then again, he usually has shorts on… _The real question was why wasn't the tailor affected by this news. _He must get this kinda thing often…_

Edward turned to face the door. "I'll be outside." He started to laugh as he left the room.

"I'm gonna go too. I need to talk to Edward anyway."

Jacob stared at me, almost pleading me to stay with his eyes.

"I'll be right outside this door. I'll come right back in when I'm done talking to Edward. And if by some unholy miracle I don't get to see you naked, you can walk around naked for me some other time." I smiled at him.

He likes my humor. The real Jacob smile broke through his sadness. "Don't think I won't hold you to it."

Jacob took off his shirt as I left the room.


	15. Truth

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

15. TRUTH

I stepped out of the room and Edward was right outside the door, standing by the wall with his arms crossed. He looked at me and I instantly felt bad. I didn't like this already, and I hadn't even asked the question I didn't want to hear the answer to.

He turned and walked down the hall to the 'waiting room'. As he sat on the couch he stared at me with a face that said, 'We need to talk.' and it frightened me.

I sat next to him and waited for him to say something. It didn't take long for him to start talking, and he only spoke in a whisper that I could barely hear. Obviously so the receptionist wouldn't hear. "What did you do?"

That was enough for me. I had my answer and I didn't want to do this anymore. I didn't want to be interrogated. I just wanted to run to Jacob and apologize even more even though he'd just tell me 'it's fine' when it's obviously not. Edward's face and his question tell me it's not.

He just looked at me, reading every thought I had as they passed though my head. Until finally he grabbed my shoulders and looked me dead in the eye. "_What_ did you do?"

"I'm… sorry! Edward, I'm so sorry… I never meant to hurt him…" Edward's tone of voice sent me over the edge. Tears. Once again I was crying. I tried to stop. I was being by far too overemotional.

I tried not to make a scene in front of the receptionist, but she apparently saw my crying and came over with tissues. "Is everything alright?"

Edward took the tissues from her as I tried to force myself to stop crying. I tried to will my tears back up into my tear ducts. I was hysterical. Edward just said to the woman, "He just heard a bit of bad news. He'll be ok."

The woman turned and waked away. I looked up at Edward, through tear-filled eyes. "I'm sorry…"

"Terry please. What happened? All I've gathered is that you did something you regret, but you haven't thought about it enough for me to get a clear picture. You kept briefly thinking about it and then forcing the thoughts away." He held out the tissues for me.

Sniffling, I grabbed the tissues and blew my nose. I wiped my tears away and readied myself to explain the situation. I just hoped I could make it through without crying again.

As I explained the events that occurred a few days ago between me, Jacob, and the pack, Edward just nodded and occasionally said 'I see'. When I had finished, he said, "Well that explains Jacob's thoughts…"

"What? What was he thinking? What does he really think about what happened? He hates me doesn't he? I took his heart and crumpled it into a million pieces. I don't deserve to be near Jacob…" I rambled for a while.

Edward finally spoke up. "Terry. Calm down. Jacob is only afraid you aren't going to accept his imprinting on you. He thinks he's losing you. The rest of the pack only makes it worse, seeing as though when the ones who have imprinted, imprinted, their imprintee fell for them immediately. Whereas you…" He trailed off.

"Haven't…" I finished for him.

"He tries to think about it rationally. He thinks it's because he's a man. And he understands-no, not understands… He… can see why that might be a problem. He just doesn't want you to leave." Edward looked concerned.

I tried to focus on everything he was saying, but it was a lot to take in.

"He really, truly loves you. I've never seen anything quite like this. It's a stronger bond than I had originally expected. His fear of losing you is… I don't know if I should say this. It would influence your decision."

Without hesitation, I demanded he tell me the truth. I needed to know.

Edward looked at me carefully. "His fear of losing you is tearing him apart. He's slowly losing himself to the fear. He's getting himself so worked up. He needs some sort of comfort. And fast. That should bring him back to 'normal'. But this imprint he's done on you really is amazing. His thoughts are fascinating… When he isn't thinking about you… erm… doing… thing-you know what? Never mind that. He can't stop thinking about you." Edward looked down the hallway. "Even now his thoughts are on you. He's wondering why you haven't come back yet."

_Jacob… _I felt horrible. Jacob was lying to me the whole time. He was hurting and he never showed it. Tears started to pour from my eyes. I clenched my teeth and took a few deep breaths. _Jacob needs me. No time to be crying._

"What are you going to do?"

I sighed. "I'm going to tell him that I'm beginning to feel something for him."

Edward looked skeptical. "Are you?"

I took a minute to answer. "…I don't know… Maybe…? All I know is I feel I need to make him feel better. I _need_ to. I feel it here." I put my hand on my chest. "I don't know what this aching is coming from, but I don't know if I like it. I'm beginning to feel like I need to help him. And that's gotta count for something."

"I hope you're right." Edward motioned to the hallway. "Go."

"Now?"

He nodded. "He needs you."

I stood up and walked down the hallway. I paused at the door to the room where Jacob was. I could hear a voice form inside. Jacob's voice. I decided to listen. "I tell ya, he's the best guy I've ever met. I love spending time with him. And I love waking up every morning to him sleeping soundly on my chest. He says my heartbeat is like a lullaby. I love him. …A lot…."

I could hear the sadness in his voice as he said the last words. I decided now to open the door. I stepped inside and saw Jacob's naked body was facing the opposite direction with his arms held out. The tailor was busy measuring Jacob's arm length, but I was sure Jacob could hear the door opening, with his sensitive hearing and all.

But he just continued talking without making any noticeable changes to signal that he heard me come in. "I hope to spend the rest of my life with him. I really do. That… is my only wish…"

"Finished." The tailor said.

Jacob turned and saw me standing in the doorway. His face lit up at the sight of me and then sudden realization crossed his mind. He realized he was still clothes less. "So you do keep good on your promises to see me naked." He smiled a devilish smile.

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world." I walked over and just hugged him. He squeezed me back. "Jake, I want you to know that I think you're growing on me."

The words hung in the air for a while before I realized I fed Jacob more ammo for his perverted mind. He burst out laughing again, like the day he phased for me the first time. "Really Terry? I'm not even going to go there on that one." The laughter continued. "You love walking into stuff like that don't you?"

I squirmed out of his vice-like grip and let out an exasperated sigh. "So much for a touching moment!"

Jacob laughed more. "What, you want to touch?"

"I give up…" I turned to leave the room and smiled. Jacob's laughter followed me down the hallway. I walked over to Edward and he had a huge smile plastered on his face. He opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off. "Say anything, and I'll make you wish you were able to die to be put out of your misery."

Edward just shrugged his shoulders and laughed. "I don't think anything else has to be said really. You pretty much said it all."


	16. Ocean

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

16. OCEAN

The car ride back to La Push set my mind at ease. I didn't know what was happening to me. My moods constantly changed from one end of the spectrum to the other with no warning. People were going to start to think I was crazy, if they didn't already.

During the ride, Jacob sat close to me. He wore 'his' smile, that made me feel like he was ok. But Edward's constant glances at me in the rearview mirror lead me to believe otherwise. I needed to talk to Jacob. But now wasn't the time.

When we got to Jacob's house, Edward thanked Jacob for his time and turned to me eyeing me carefully. _I know, I know. I'm gonna talk to him, ok? _As Edward drove down the road, me and Jacob started walking to the house.

"Hey Jake, can we take a walk? I'd like to go sit on the log at the beach again if you don't mind." I turned facing the direction of the beach.

As he altered his direction, walking towards me, he said, "Sure sure. So what do you want to do today? It's only almost noon, we've got the whole day ahead of us."

"Well first I wanna talk to you." I took on a serious tone.

Jacob's face looked depressed.

"Hey hey, don't worry. It's nothing bad, I promise." Wanting to take Jacob's mind off of whatever thoughts he was having, I made a suggestion. "Race you there?"

Big mistake. Jacob took off like a bat out of Hell. Never have I seen someone run so fast. When I finally caught up to him he was sitting on the old log on the beach. I was completely out of breath, and he was just lounging there like nothing happened. "What took you so long?"

"Sweet Jesus… I think my heart just exploded…" I dropped myself in a huff onto the log. My heart was racing. Upon further reflection, two things occurred to me. Not only should I not have challenged Jacob to a race, but I shouldn't have sprinted the entire way. It made me look like more of a fool because Jacob still got there way before me.

Jacob just smiled.

Once my heart regained a normal rhythm and my breathing slowed, I remembered why we were here. "So Jake… About what happened. I know how you really feel. You've been trying to deceive me."

"And how exactly do I feel?" He tried to call my bluff.

Only I wasn't bluffing. "You feel like you're losing me. Like I'm gonna leave you."

He turned his head to face the ocean. He was silent for a while, before he said without question, "Edward."

"Yeah."

"Why did you ask him?" He still hadn't turned back to face me yet. "I told you I was fine."

"But you're not fine. And I didn't ask him." Not entirely true. But also not entirely false. "When I left the measuring room Edward was standing there. He asked me what I did because apparently your thoughts were unsettling to him."

Jacob sighed.

"So I told him what happened. And he told me what you were thinking about." I touched his arm. "Jacob, I wanted you to be honest with me. Always."

He turned back to me. "I know and I'm sorry. It just wasn't something you should know. I didn't want my fear of losing you to effect your decision to be with me or not. I want you to love me on your terms, not because you feel you have to."

I thought for a moment, wondering whether or not I should tell Jacob what else Edward told me. I figured since I want the truth fro Jacob, I should tell him. "He also told me you're upset because everyone else's imprintee accepted them almost instantly…"

"That's only partially true. I'm not that upset about it. I'm more so upset with myself. I feel like I'm doing something wrong. Like I should do something to prove our connection." His shoulders slumped.

"Alright how's this then." I hopped off the log and turned to face Jacob. I stared him right in the eyes. "I may not have accepted you yet. But that doesn't mean I won't ever. I mean I'm still here, right?"

He looked away towards the ocean again. "But that doesn't mean you won't ever leave."

I sighed as I held each side of Jacob's face turning him to me. "Where else am I gonna go? I mean look at where we are. Relationship wise. About a week ago, I never even met you. You were just Bella's best friend. Now look at us. I sleep with you every night. I've spent every second of everyday with _you._ Bella invited me down here, and I've been staying with you, because I feel… weird… when you're gone. If that doesn't count for something, I don't know what else to tell you."

He thought about what I said for a few minutes. I had let go of his face and took a few steps back. We never broke the eye contact though. Eventually the real, and I mean real Jacob smile came back. "You're right. You're absolutely right. I'm sorry I ever felt down. And Terry. It is worth something. You being here with me is worth the world to me. You may not love me yet, but you will. I can _feel_ it."

"That's the spirit!" I laughed as he got off the log and smiled.

He turned to the ocean a final time, but this time it wasn't with disdain. He was contemplating something. When he turned back to me he had a big smile. "Wanna go swimming?"

"I'd love to. But I don't have swim trunks." I saw some sort of gleam in his eye. I couldn't place what it was.

"Neither do I."

It took me a few seconds, but eventually I understood. "Oh…" I thought about it. Finally I just took off my shirt and stated unbuttoning my pants. "Oh, what the hell. Why not?"

He smirked as he took of his shorts. "That's the spirit!"


	17. Cold

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

17. COLD

"I'm s-s-s-so… c-c-c-c-cold…" My entire body was shaking. I had goose bumps and my teeth were chattering. I have severe difficulty putting my clothes back on after we went swimming. Finally after struggling to get my clothing in order, I turned to Jacob.

He was just standing there like it was ninety degrees. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was sweating. It was not ninety degrees. It was maybe sixty if I was lucky. He had put his shorts on and just stared at my quivering body. "Geez, why are you so cold?"

"R-r-really? You d-don't know?" I started to rub my arms, trying to use the friction to create heat.

He started to laugh. "Alright alright. Come here." He held his arms open for me.

I sighed with relief as I ran to his warm body. "Oh g-god this is fant-t-tastic…" The heat coming off his body was exactly what I needed. He wrapped his arms around me and it got even warmer.

I placed my hands on his back and Jacob let out a girlish squeal. "Sweet mother of God, your fingers are freezing!" He let go of me and stepped backwards.

"Hey, come back. You're so warm." I started to walk over to him again.

"Forget that! I'm out of here!" He started to run down the beach towards his house.

I gave chase. "Jacob! Come back!" He obviously wasn't running full speed, as I was only a few steps behind him. Close enough to reach out to touch him, making him yell again.

He laughed as he ran form me the entire way back to his house. He went inside and left the door open.

I ran in after him. "Get back here!"

He ran into the living room and stood behind Billy's chair, using his father as a shield. "No way! You're hands are freezing."

When I stepped one direction around Billy, Jacob took a step opposite, keeping Billy right in between us. We faked moving left and right a few times before Billy said, "Care to tell me what exactly you two are doing? And where have you been?"

"Oh sorry I forgot to tell you. Edward came by to take me to get sized for a tux. We got back at like noon and went swimming at the beach." Jacob motioned to me, "And then 'coldilocks' here, with his freezing hands, tried to take advantage of my body heat."

I sighed. "Coldilocks… Really Jacob…" His puns were really bad.

"You two went swimming for two hours? In this weather? Jacob, where's your sense of responsibility? Look at Terry, his lips are blue! He's gonna catch pneumonia." Billy wheeled himself out of between us.

I took advantage of Jacob being distracted by his father talking to him. I ran at him, hugging his warm body close to me. I wrapped my hands around his back. He squealed again, but didn't force me away. "I'm sorry dad. You're right."

"You better warm him up better than that, poor boy is freezing to death." Billy said something else to Jacob but I couldn't hear what it was over the sound of my chattering teeth.

I looked up at Jacob to see a sly smile on his face, and he hugged me closer to him. I wasn't sure I liked where this was going. I squirmed out of his hug. "You know what? Suddenly, I'm not cold anymore." I lied, despite my body still shivering.

"Oh no you don't. Come here." Jacob picked me up and threw my over his shoulder. He walked with me down the hall into his bedroom.

He dropped me to the bed and closed the door. I was very confused. "What's going on?"

"Dad reminded me of something." He smiled at me. "Take your clothes off."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm gonna take advantage of you being so cold." The smile remained on his face. I wasn't sure what he was talking about. My face must've told him that. "No really, trust me. You'll get warm fast this way. We're gonna get naked and lie together under the covers."

I just stared at him, still shaking. _Why was it so cold…? _"You want to what?"

"I did this for Bella too. When we were in the blizzard? She told you that right?" He took off his shorts and climbed into his bed, getting under the covers.

"You and Bella were naked together? And Edward let you live?" I was really cold, and Jacob was actually making sense to me. _It must be the cold effecting my brain…_

He rolled his eyes. "More or less. Besides you're clothes are wet. You put them on right after you got out of the water. They're not gonna help you get warm." He lifted the blanket, welcoming me inside. "But I can."

Without thinking, I threw off my shirt and took off my pants. "Alright fine. But I'm keeping my boxers on, creeper." I climbed into the bed and under the covers. I pressed my body to his and the warmth was so satisfying. Definitely worth being taken advantage of.

"Whatever, your loss." He wrapped his arms around me. "You know. If you take your clothes off to lay with me every time you get cold, we're going swimming much more often." His booming laughter filled his tiny room.

As I started to warm up I was reflecting on what Jacob had said. "Wait. Your dad wanted us to lie naked together? What kind of father promotes that with his kids?"

Jacob laughed more. "Actually the naked thing was my idea. So was lying together. He just reminded me that blankets would help."

"And I fell for your trap…"

"Ok fine, if you want me to get up, I will." He sat up and started to get out of the bed.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him back to me. "No no! I'm much to cold to be upset with you now. Enjoy this while you can."

"What you're not sleeping with me anymore?" He teased.

"I'm not sleeping with you, _naked._" I corrected him.

He laughed. "We'll see."

I closed my eyes as the heat from Jacob's body warmed me. It was really nice. I started to think about what I was doing. _Was this natural behavior? Normal people wouldn't do this, even if they were as cold as I was… I do like laying with him anyway. Maybe this is just the logical next step. Me being cold was just the catalyst. _"Jacob… What is love exactly?"

He took a deep breath. "That is a good question."

"You know, don't you? Because you love me?"

"Of course I know. It's just I think love is different for each person." Listening to Jacob talk like this was nice. He sounded like he really knew what he was talking about.

My eyes started to get heavy listening to his heartbeat as our conversation went on. "Ok, well then what is love to you?"

Without a moments hesitation he began. "Love, to me, is this." He tightened his arms around me. "Love is the sensation I get in my entire body when I'm with you. There's no denying what this feeling is. I guess you have to feel it in order to know, because I can't describe this…"

I thought about what he said. He talked about a feeling he gets in his body when he's near me. _I get a feeling sometimes. I just don't know what it is… _"Jake, I umm… I think I might love you…"

"No you don't. Not yet anyway."

"How do you figure?" Having Jacob reject a confession of my feelings was not something I expected. _No tears? No 'Aww Terry. I'm so happy.'?_

He laughed a little. "You sound upset. I find that funny. But look. I'm not saying I'm not excited about what you said. Believe me, I am. More than you know. Anyway, it's just when you're in love… you _know_ it. There's no '_think_' or '_might_' about it."

I was impressed. He really did know what he was talking about. "You're really smart, you know that?"

Inflating his ego was entertaining. "Yes. Yes I do believe I've been told that before. Some have called me the next Albert Einstein."

"Ok , lets not go that far. You just really know a lot about love."

"Terry, I've imprinted. Love is the only thing I know. Like actually know for sure, without any doubts." He took a deep breath and just held me for a while. Eventually his breathing slowed, as did his heartbeat.

_Yeah. I'm pretty tired too… _I closed my eyes and let his heartbeat do the rest.


	18. Pressure

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

18. PRESSURE

"Terry… Hey Terry wake up…" It was weird to have Jacob waking me up considering he usually just lays there as I sleep.

I sat up off of his chest. "Ok, I'm up. What's going on?" As I tried to focus my eyes I saw the red numbers of the clock: '8:47'. I looked out the window to see the sun had set. I didn't mean to sleep for so long.

Jacob smiled. "It's nothing bad. I just figured I'd wake you so if you woke up later, you wouldn't be surprised if I was gone."

"You're leaving?" Jacob never went anywhere without me. I was confused.

He sat up next to me. "Yeah, for a little while. I heard a howl. The pack wants to meet for something."

"Can I come?" I wanted to see the pack again and hopefully redeem myself for having a meltdown last time.

Jacob shook his head. "Not this time. Urgent wolf-type things." He laid a hand on my shoulder. "I'll be back." He got out of the bed and put his shorts on. "Trust me, if I didn't have to go, I wouldn't. I would much rather have continued lying there naked with you."

"What am I supposed to do then?" I haven't been away from Jacob for a long period of time before.

"Well you can go back to sleep if you want. Or my dad is in the living room, you could go talk with him. I'm sure he'd love to get to know you." He smiled. It was obvious he wanted me to spend time with is dad.

I took of the blankets and quickly realized it was very cold in the house. "I should probably put some clothes on before I go see your dad."

Jacob laughed. "Yeah maybe. Alright, I'll be back soon. I promise it won't be long."

"Take your time. I don't want you running off in the middle of a meeting because you think I need you for something."

"Ok. See ya." He hugged me in a one arm hug and turned for the door.

"Oh wait! Don't forget the invitations to Bella's wedding. We forgot to bring them last time we saw them." The wedding was soon and I didn't know if we'd see the pack again before then.

Jacob sighed. "Great, more stuff to carry." He grabbed the stack of invitations from the floor. "Ok, now I'm leaving." He smiled as he left the room.

As he left the room I heard the sounds of him walking down the hall, him saying goodbye to his dad, and then leaving through the door. _Alright. Jacob wants me to spend time with his dad, so I will._

I got off the bed and put pajama bottoms and one of Jacob's big T-shirts on. I walked down the hallway and started to think of how this was going to go down. _I hope he doesn't make me feel bad about not loving Jacob. Last time I saw Billy he may have just been acting nice because Jacob was there… _

"Hi Billy." I was hoping I didn't sound too nervous.

He turned from the TV to look at me. "Terry! Jacob said you were sleeping. Come watch the game with me."

"Yeah sure." I went into the living room and sat on the couch. "Who's playing?"

"Mariners and Angels. Three to three. Bottom of the third."

I had no idea what he just said. I just nodded like I knew what he was talking about. We sat in silence watching the game for what seemed to me like forever. I looked at the clock: '9:30'. _It's only been thirty minutes…_

As if he had heard my thoughts, Billy muted the TV and turned to me. "Alright you don't seem to interested in baseball."

"Oh. Uhh no. Not really…" I was taken off guard by his ability to read people.

He laughed. "Ok, what would you rather be doing?"

I thought about that. I came to the conclusion that I'd rather be doing something with Jacob, anything with Jacob. I didn't tell him that of course. I decided to go another way. "I was wondering if we could talk about stuff."

One of his eyebrows raised. "What kind of stuff?"

I expected he knew the answer. "Well I was wondering about Jacob. What was he like before… before he imprinted?"

"He was miserable. That no-good Cullen took Bella from him. I had never seen Jake down like that before. He wouldn't talk to me or his friends. He wouldn't even eat, if you can imagine that." His eyes closed as he revisited that period of time. After a few seconds he shook his head. "I'm sorry, what was your question?"

I was fascinated. Hearing about this love triangle from this side was much different from what Bella told me. Jacob being upset was not something I liked to think about. "Umm… does he talk about me?" Not that we were ever apart for very long.

"He doesn't need to. How he acts around you tells everything. I'm glad that he's happy now. Truly happy. It's all because of you. I am so grateful that you come here to Washington to see Bella. I'd really hate to see Jacob upset again like he was when Bella had used him." He smiled at me.

_Oh good. No pressure. _Both Jacob and Edward were careful about what they said, trying not to influence my decision one way or the other. Not Billy. "You said it was how he acts around me. Can you explain that?"

"You should see him. He's always got that big smile on his face, especially when you guys are goofing off. You can feel how happy he is when he's with you. As long as Jacob has been my son, I have never seen him so… in love." Billy sighed. "Even when he had feelings for Bella, he was happy and all, but there was always something missing. He never had the true happiness he has now." He looked me directly in the eye. "And you don't even love him back."

_Great, this conversation has gone to the one place I didn't want it to go. _"I… I care deeply for your son. And I would never do anything purposefully to hurt him. I'm sorry I don't return his love in the extreme that he gives it out. But I just don't know…"

"No no. That's not what I meant." He laughed. "I wasn't reprimanding you. I'm saying he's as happy as he is now, and you don't even love him back. Imagine when you do!"

As Billy lost himself in his little world, I thought about what he said. And how he said it. 'Imagine _when _you do!' It wasn't '_if'. _It was '_when'_. _Again, no pressure._

I was so busy thinking about what Billy said, I hadn't noticed Jacob had come back until he sat next to me on the couch and wrapped his arm around my side. "Hi. Told you it'd be quick."

I was glad to see him. I couldn't stop a smile from spreading across my face. I felt like Jacob. Then I looked at his face. There was worry and concern under a mask of happiness.

I was about to ask what was wrong but Jacob spoke. "So what did you guys do while I was gone?"

"Me and Terry had a nice conversation about sports. Right?" I turned to Billy and he winked at me.

"What? You like sports? You never told me." Jacob was good at covering whatever was bothering him with idle prattle.

I shook my head. "Oh yeah sorry. I don't really like sports but I asked what exactly was going on in the game, so Billy was explaining it to me." I was glad I could lie, unlike Bella.

"Oh I see." Jacob motioned down the hall with his head. I nodded in recognition. "Ok dad, we're gonna hit the hay. G'night."

Jacob and I got up and started walking to his room. "Thanks for talking with me, Billy."

"Anytime." I heard him un-mute the TV. "Good night guys."

Jacob and I walked into his bedroom and I sat laid down on his bed. He closed the door and climbed into bed next to me. We both were laying on our backs and he was staring into my eyes.

"What's wrong, Jake?" I asked after a few moments of silence.

Jacob sighed. "It's nothing I want to talk about now. Tomorrow. When you wake up, ok?"

I didn't like Jacob worrying about stuff that he won't tell me about. Thankfully he intended to tell me, just not at that time.

I laid my head onto Jacob's chest. "Tomorrow then."


	19. AWOL

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

19. AWOL

Mornings with Jacob used to be nice. That was of course, until Edward called him yesterday, and Jacob's mystery he was going to tell me about when I woke up. I didn't sleep well for the first night since I've been sleeping with Jacob. Eventually, I gave up and rolled off of him.

He just turned his head towards me and stared into my eyes.

We were lying there for a while before he spoke. "Terry, I need to tell you something."

"Alright, what do you want to talk about?"

He sighed. "What I _want _to talk about, and what I _should _talk about are two totally different things…"

Now I was confused. "Well, how about you tell me what you 'should' tell me first and then we can talk about whatever you want?"

A smile crossed his face, but only briefly. "Works for me, I suppose. So, I wanna tell you about what the pack meeting was about last night."

"I'm just gonna stop you right there. See, had I have gone with you, like I wanted to, you wouldn't need to explain this to me."

He put a finger over my lips and smiled. "Shh. There will be time for questions. So I got to the clearing last night and the rest were already there."

I thought about that. _And the rest were already there… _The last two times we saw the pack, Leah was missing. But nobody seemed to mind.

"I had already guessed what the meeting was about. Remember how I told you there were seven others in the pack besides me? Well the one you haven't met, Leah, has been gone for a while."

"Where is she?" I knew Jacob had told me to be quiet, but I couldn't help but ask questions.

Jacob sighed again. "Well let me explain. Sam had been dating Leah before he imprinted. Wait… I suppose _as _he imprinted is a better way to put it. Sam imprinted on Leah's second cousin, Emily."

I found that fascinating. And heartbreaking. _To be dating someone and then imprint on someone else…_ "Is she upset?"

Jacob snorted a laugh. "Upset? That's putting it lightly. When Leah had phased into a wolf for the first time, she had to constantly hear Sam's never ending thoughts about Emily. She became bitter over the idea of imprinting and the pack and decided to use our mental connection against us. Umm… you remember what Embry said. 'Please Sam, please order Jake not to phase. Leah is enough constantly imagining herself with you, I don't wanna have to suffer through Jacob now too.'"

This was an interesting story. It seemed like a mythological soap opera.

"And then Quil and Jared imprinted not too long after becoming wolves. That made Leah more upset. From the thoughts of hers we heard, her logic is basically 'when's my turn?' but she has emotional problems on top of the anger problems that come with being a wolf, so it's a little worse for her."

"And then you imprinted?"

Jacob looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah. This is where things get complicated."

_Right, 'cause they're not complicated already._

"The day that you came to Forks, when we first met, I had run off to ask Sam about imprinting on a guy. No one else was a wolf when I was running to meet Sam. Well I _thought_ no one else was. So I freely thought about it on my way. Apparently Leah was a wolf at that time. That was her breaking point as it turns out. Losing Sam, two other guys imprinting, and me imprinting on a guy became too much for her and she ran off."

I started to feel bad. It seemed like it was my fault. I didn't tell him that, of course. If I did he'd just go on about it not being my fault and lose his place in the story.

He turned to look at me again. "When we went to see the pack the second time, Sam started to tell me about Leah. But then I saw you getting upset, so I left Sam to see what was wrong and then… Well you know. Ok, long story short, at the meeting yesterday we were discussing Leah. Apparently she has left the pack. No one thought that was possible. She somehow was able to sever the mental connection to us. No one knows where she is. I just hope she's ok… I mean yeah, she is a bitter harpy, but still. She was a pack mate, and I'm worried."

I had no idea that Jacob felt so strongly about his pack. "I wish there was something I could do."

He sighed. "I don't think there's anything anyone can do, except wait for her to come back. They tried looking for her, but she's no where near Washington."

I laid my hand on the side of his face. "She'll be fine."

"I hope so."

We laid in bed in silence for a while. I saw no change in Jacob's expression. I wanted to get his mind off of Leah's disappearance. "So how about the wedding invitations?"

Jacob suddenly laughed. "They all accepted them."

"Even Paul?"

"Even Paul. Sam figured that since Bella is my friend and important to me, and that they had gotten along so well with the Cullens during the vampire army battle, they would go. Well that and… No wait. That's a secret." He smiled.

That wasn't fair. He baited me. "What's a secret?"

"I can't tell you. That's why it's a secret. You'll just have to wait and see at the wedding."

"Oh come on! You can tell me." I climbed on top of Jacob and sat on his stomach. "Tell me."

Jacob shook his head. "No."

I hated secrets. I really hated being told that someone knew a secret. "Come on… I'll do anything."

One of Jacob's eyebrows raised. "Anything?" He propped himself up on his elbows.

"…Maybe…" I started to get worried. "How many days until the wedding?"

"About a week, why?"

I thought for a minute. "I can wait." I thought maybe he'd fall for my bluff.

He just shrugged. "Suit yourself."

_Damn it… _"Ok fine. Tell me."

He laughed. "Nope, too late. You said you'd wait, now you have to wait."

"Ugh…" _There's no winning with Jacob._


	20. Run

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

20. RUN

While we were eating breakfast, I suddenly recalled what Jacob had said. "So, now that you've told me what you needed to tell me, what did you _want_ to talk about?"

"Oh right." He started to shake his head. "I'm disappointed in you."

I had no idea where this was coming from. "What? What'd I do?"

"It's not what you did, it's what you didn't do. I can't believe I had to find out that today was you're birthday from Edward." He glared at me.

"Wait what? What's the date?"

He just stared into my eyes, never blinking. "The nineteenth."

"The nineteenth? August nineteenth?" I had forgotten all about time while I was with Jacob.

He nodded.

I had known my birthday was close when I came to Forks, but to completely lose track of the days was bizarre. _And forget my own birthday? _I looked at Jacob who was still staring at me with his disappointed face. "Hey, it's not my fault."

"How is it not your fault? Who forgets their birthday? You just didn't want me to know." Jacob crossed his arms over his chest.

"Wait… How did Edward know?" I never said anything about it.

He shrugged. "I dunno. I guess you must've thought about it at some point when you were near him. He told me yesterday."

"Well it doesn't matter anyway. Even if I had told you, you would've gotten me something, and I don't want anything." Jacob did too much for me as it was.

"Ok two things. First, who's to say I would've gotten you something? And second, who's to say I haven't already gotten you something?" He was being very coy.

I sighed. "Did you get me something?"

"No. Terry, I was only apart from you once, and that was only for at most forty-five minutes. Where could I have gone to get something?" He took my plate and started to wash the dishes in the sink.

He had a point. "Alright then. Just don't go out and get me anything. I don't want anything. I'd rather just spend my birthday with you for my gift." The words came out before I knew what I had said.

"Really? You just wanna spend your entire birthday with me? Doing what?" He seemed surprised.

"I don't know… Maybe going out to eat again?" _Where was this coming from? Such an extreme desire to be with him…_

Jacob looked thoughtful for a minute. "Alright I can give you half of that. We can spend the entire day doing whatever you want, and we'll go out for dinner. But the dinner will be with Bella and Edward."

"A birthday party?" I tried to sound excited.

"It was mostly Bella's idea. Apparently she wanted to take you out for dinner, but Edward had suggested we all go and make a party out of it." When he finished washing the dishes, Jacob sat next to me at the table. "What do you say? Wanna go?"

"I don't have much of a choice do I?"

Jacob laughed. "Not at all. But that's not until later, what do you want to do now?"

"Well I _did_ want to go out to dinner with you…" I let out an exasperated sigh.

He rolled his eyes. "We are going to dinner, just with Edward and Bella."

"Yeah well, maybe… maybe I wanted to go alone with you." I felt my cheeks get hot. _Was I blushing? _I turned my head away from Jacob.

When I looked back at him, he was staring at me with eyes full of suspicion. "Why?"

"I just like spending time with you… Is it a crime for the imprintee to want to spend time with the imprinter?" Being overly defensive wasn't going to help me, but I couldn't help it.

"Other than going out to dinner, what would you like to do _alone_ with me then?" His eyebrows raised in curiosity.

I said the first thing that came to mind. "Can I see you as a wolf again?"

A big smile crossed his face. "You just wanna see me naked again don't you?"

"No, it's just maybe with you as a wolf, I can get some piece and quiet!" I walked out of the house into the yard where Jacob had first phased for me.

His laughter followed me. "All right, all right. Take it easy, I'm just messing with you." He handed me his shorts with an ear-to-ear grin.

"You better cut it out or I'm gonna have to smack that big, stupid smile off of your face."

He laughed more as he walked a few steps away from me. "Go ahead and try. Bella did, and she broke her hand." And with that, his body exploded into a wolf.

Jacob was something else. He constantly knew how to push my buttons and when enough was enough. He knew when I was only jokingly mad and loved to take advantage of the situations I end up in. He was really fun to be around.

Jacob walked over to me and brushed his head against my hand. I patted his head and started playing with his fur. There was something about seeing him as a wolf. It was truly a sight to behold. Such a monstrous creature, with great big puppy dog eyes.

"Jacob… can I …ride you?" It was a weird question. But I wanted to. I wanted him to run with me on his back. I heard the wolves were fast, and I wanted to see just how fast they were.

He took a few steps back and looked into my eyes. It was almost as if he was contemplating something, but whatever it was I couldn't guess. Eventually he laid down on the ground and turned his head to me.

I took that as a yes. I folded his shorts and tucked them under my arm. I climbed onto his back and he stood up. He was much taller than I thought. He started trotting around the yard and I wondered what this must look like to someone else. It must've looked really bizarre. "Jake, can we go faster?"

He turned his head back to look at me, almost doubtingly.

"What? I can handle it." I wrapped my hands around his neck and held tight.

He barked a laugh and took off into the woods. I held on as tight as I could as trees whizzed by. I felt sudden changes in direction as Jacob danced around trees in his path. The green blur all around us was a beautiful sight to see.

Eventually he stopped. Jacob laid down and I climbed off his back, disoriented from how fast we were going. I tripped and fell to my hands and knees, dropping his shorts to the ground.

When the world stopped spinning, I looked up to see Jacob smiling at me. "Fast, wasn't it?"

"I'm impressed. Bella always talked about how fast Edward runs, but after experiencing that, I'd bet anything you're faster." I sat on the ground. In the silence of the woods, I heard the babble of a stream. I looked for the source of the noise and there was a very nice looking brook that lead into a spring. It was quite a sight. The way a few sun rays made it through the trees and hit the rocks gave them a rainbow-like color. "Jacob, where are we?"

He looked around himself. "This is where I come to think sometimes. I found it by accident one time, and I really love it."

"You know, I'd like to spend my birthday here." I laid down in the grass.

"I thought you'd like it." Jacob laid down next to me. "Happy birthday Terry."


	21. Present

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

21. PRESENT

The remainder of the day was spent at the spot in the woods with the brook. We laid in the grass listening to the babble of the water and the sounds of nature. Occasionally we said something to each other, but we mostly just laid there together.

When the sun began to set, Jacob said it was time to leave. He phased into a wolf and ran me back to his house. I wasn't as dizzy that time. We had just enough time to shower and get dressed, before Edward and Bella arrived to pick us up.

"Happy birthday Terry!" Bella gave me a hug. Her exuberant attitude was much different form how I remembered her in Phoenix. It was much different form how she sounded on the phone when she would call me talking about Edward or Jacob. I came to the conclusion that she finally became truly happy. She was in love and soon to be married to Edward, and Jacob had found love in me.

"Don't those clothes look nice on you?" Edward asked, referencing that I was wearing his clothes I had previously worn to dinner with Jacob.

"Thank you, both of you. And you can have these back whenever you want them." I motioned to the clothes I was wearing.

Edward shook his head. "No need to rush. You need something to wear to the wedding, so you can wear those." He walked to his car and opened the back seat. He pulled out the black jacket that was originally laid out for me to wear days ago. "Here's the jacket for you to wear."

"Oh great, thanks." I grabbed the jacket and ran in the house. I laid the jacket on Jacob's bed and walked back outside. Jacob was standing close to Edward with his back to me, I heard him say something, but I wasn't close enough to hear.

Jacob turned to face me with a smile. "Ready to go?"

I eyed him suspiciously. "Yeah."

Jacob and I sat in the back, he sat in the middle seat with his arm on the back of my seat. The ride to the restaurant was mostly quiet. Only the occasional comment from Bella of our history in Phoenix. There wasn't really much to our life in Phoenix, she mostly kept to herself. She only had two friends, me and Jeff. She wasn't as close to Jeff as she was to me, which explains why I'm the only one she invited to Forks.

When we arrived at the restaurant I realized it was the same one that Jacob and I had gone to just a few days ago. We were seated and had our orders taken. The conversation drifted from Bella and my relationship, to myself, but I was more interested in the mythical life of Forks, Washington.

I learned the history of Edward and his family, who I was told I'd meet at the wedding. As Edward explained his life as a vampire my mind started to wander. I wondered how I was able to comprehend the existence of vampires and werewolves, without doubt. I was skeptical when Bella first explained it to me, but over time her stories became normal. I thought meeting a vampire and a werewolf would be a frightening experience, but they both turned out to be extremely… normal.

After finishing about three quarters of the cake that was brought out by himself, Jacob started to talk. He was mostly silent throughout this whole thing. "Alright, no more talk of vampires or werewolves. This is Terry's birthday, today should be about him."

"But Jake, a werewolf is a big part of my life now. And you're best friends with Bella, who's engaged to a vampire. So talking about vampires and werewolves is about me."

"I guess." He looked across the table at Edward. "But that's not what I meant."

Edward reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small wrapped box. "This is from Jacob, Bella, and me. It's really a gift for the both of you." With a smile, he handed it to me.

"Thanks." I unwrapped the box and inside were two silver chains with pieces of metal on them. On one the metal tag it said 'P.O. Jacob Black' and the other read 'P.O. Terry Prokop'. "P.O.?" I didn't know what that meant.

Edward and Bella began to laugh as Jacob took the chains from me. He looked at them for a minute and then smiled.

"What? What's so funny?"

Edward stopped laughing. "It stands for 'Property Of'. They're uhh… 'dog tags'."

They didn't look like dog tags. Not like the ones soldiers wear. Jacob began to laugh. "Oh I get it. That's clever."

I took the chains back and looked at them. They definitely weren't military-type dog tags. They looked more like… "Oh… That is funny. They are actual _dog _tags."

"'Cause I'm a werewolf. Who's idea was the dog tags?"

Bella raised her hand. "That would be my idea. Well you know how Edward used to call you 'Dog' and 'Mutt'. I figured actual tags for dogs would make this funnier."

"And 'Property Of'?" I wanted to know. I wasn't upset or anything, If anything, it was really true. Me and Jacob did kind of belong to each other.

"That was my idea." Jacob smiled. "I had asked Edward if he could pick up a real military dog tag that said 'P.O. Jacob Black'. I wanted to get one for you… 'Cause well, you're my imprint. But I have to admit, actual tags for dogs is pretty good."

I looked at the chains again. "But there's two chains here."

"I figured that in all truth, Jacob belongs to you as much as you do to him, if not more. So I had that second one made."

I put the chain that read 'P.O. Jacob Black' on. It hung to the middle of my chest like dog tags should. I was glad it wasn't on a collar. I then lifted the chains and put it under my shirt.

"What are you embarrassed to be owned by me?" Jacob put his on and had it dangling freely over his shirt. "I want the world to know I belong to you."

"I just don't want to get it caught on anything and ruin it. Thank you guys. This is a nice gift." I touched the tag through my shirt. _I do belong to Jacob, don't I… _Somewhere in the back of my mind I realized I was ok with that.

I looked over at Jacob who was smiling at me. "I'm glad you like it. And for you to actually accept it and wear it… I'm getting to you, aren't I?"

"I suppose. Unless you drugged my food. In which case, I don't even know what I'm doing. I probably would've accepted a tag that said property of Edward Cullen at this point." A little sarcasm to get us out of this sentimental area.

Jacob laughed. "Yeah, I paid the waitress to drug your food to make you accept the dog tag."

"You know what, you're right. Had I been drugged you probably would've raped me by now, Mr. 'I-think-about-having-sex-with-you-when-you're-lying-on-me-at-night.'" Having these sarcastic conversation with Jacob were always fun.

"Sure I would need to drug you in order to rape you. Have you seen these muscles?" Jacob flexed. "I could hold you down with one hand if I wanted to."

The banter went on as the night came to an end. Edward and Bella dropped us off at Jacob's house. "Goodbye you guys." Bella hugged me and Jacob.

"Yes, goodbye you two. Thanks for a very… _interesting _dinner conversation…" Edward smiled.

I had forgotten they were even at the table when Jacob and I were going back and forth. I was embarrassed at some of the things that were said. Jacob just laughed. "Anytime."

"Before I forget, your tuxedo was finished today. I have it at my house. I will bring it to the wedding for you to change into when you arrive."

"He works fast." Jacob seemed impressed that his tuxedo was ready so soon.

Edward and Bella left as Jacob and I went into the house. We walked into his room and I changed into the pajama bottoms and Jacob's big T-shirt that became my normal sleeping attire. Jacob took off all his clothes and put on just a pair of shorts, his normal everywhere attire.

We climbed into the bed and just laid there together for a while. I began to fall asleep listening to the sound of Jacob's heart. He yawned. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks Jacob." And then I drifted off to sleep.


	22. Sadness

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

22. SADNESS

The next three days were rather uneventful, well the first two were. We woke up in the morning, had breakfast, and spent most of the day in Jacob's spot in the woods. They were peaceful days. I really enjoyed them. Talking to Jacob was always enjoyable, he emanated an aura of tranquility when we were in his spot and it made being with him even better.

The third day was different. I was thinking about what me and Jacob were going to do that day while lying on his chest in the morning. I hadn't opened my eyes yet, I was hoping he'd think I was still asleep.

Then there was a knock at the door. "Jacob…?" It was voice I knew, but couldn't place. I could tell the emotion behind the voice though: distraught.

I sat up off of Jacob as he got off the bed to answer his door. "Seth?"

As the door opened, Seth stepped into the room looking disheveled. "Jacob… Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, sit down. What's wrong?" Jacob closed the door and he and Seth sat on the edge of the bed.

"Leah…" Seth trailed off, not saying much.

Jacob really cared about his pack mates. When someone was upset, Jacob was the one to fix it. "What about her?"

Seth sighed. "I miss her. I really hope she's ok wherever she is…"

"I'm sure she's fine. You know her better than anyone, you know how tough she is." Jacob put a hand on Seth's shoulder.

"She only has a tough front. She's not really like that. Leah is nice and caring, you remember how she was before Sam…" Seth trailed off again, it sounded like he didn't want to talk bad of the alpha wolf. "I just wish she'd find someone to take her mind off of all this." He looked down at the floor.

Jacob said nothing, but I could tell he was upset about not knowing where Leah was.

Seth let out a little bit of a sarcastic laugh. "As if Sam wasn't enough, Jared and Quil imprinted so soon after becoming wolves. And she was forced to listen to their 'lovey-dovey' thoughts about their imprints. Don't take this the wrong way please, but then you imprinted… On a guy of all things." He stared at Jacob. "She lost it. I could hear her thoughts as she broke down."

Jacob just stared at the floor.

Seth cradled his head in his hands. "I tried so hard to maintain composure… But it finally hit me last night. To know exactly what she thought of and to not be able to help her… I feel… s-so bad…" He started to cry.

I started to feel really bad. To see a Seth cry the way he did tore a whole in my heart. His sobs and whines pierced the silence of the room. I knew it wasn't directly my fault, but it sure did seem like it. _I _was the final straw. Jacob imprinting on _me_ pushed her over the edge. After seeing Seth so broken up about this, I could only imagine what Leah was going through.

"I just w-want… her t-to come h-home…" Seth barely managed to get those words out as he cried harder.

Jacob wrapped his arms around him as Seth cried into his shoulder. "It's going to be fine Seth, I promise. She's ok. Leah just needs some time and space to sort things out."

Jacob's words had an effect on Seth. His sobbing slowed, as his breathing returned to normal. "I-I'm sorry Jacob for c-crying like this… You supposed to be happy with Terry and I'm burdening you with my problems…"

"Hey, any of the pack's problems are my problems too. We stick together, right?" Jacob smiled at him.

Seth took a deep breath and smiled. "Right. Thanks Jacob, you really always know what to say."

"I just call 'em as I see 'em."

Seth took a deep breath and laid back on Jacob's bed. His head hit my knee where I was sitting and he sat back up immediately. He turned to face me. "Oh wow! I didn't even know you were in here…" As he looked at me, he noticed I was covered by Jacob's blankets. "I uhh… I didn't know you two were sleeping… Oh man, I didn't interrupt anything, did I?"

Jacob laughed. "Nah. We got all that out of the way before you got here. Terry is still recovering."

"Wait, what? Jacob, stop being an idiot. No, you didn't interrupt anything. We weren't doing anything." I glared at Jacob.

Jacob laughed more. "Well maybe _you_ weren't doing anything…" His voice trailed off at the end.

"Before I get anymore mental pictures I don't need, I'm going to get out of here." Seth stood up and smiled at me. "See ya, Terry. And Jacob, thanks again. Really."

Jacob stood up and patted Seth on the back. "It was no trouble at all."

"Bye Seth." I waved.

For Seth's sake, I hoped that Leah was ok. I hoped Leah would come home soon to ease his suffering. I knew she was the one who lost it, but Seth was a good guy, he didn't deserve to suffer like that. To know the thought processes a family member was having as they snapped, really wasn't something you should experience.

Jacob closed the door and leaned against it. The smile he had when Seth was here slowly faded.

"What's wrong Jacob?"

"I feel bad. Really bad." He ran his hand through his hair. "I hope to God she really is ok. She needs to come back soon."


	23. Motorcycle

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

23. MOTORCYCLE

"Let's do something different today." Jacob seemed unusually chipper considering Seth had just left a little over two hours ago. Jacob and I had decided since we were up we might as well start the day, so Jacob had made breakfast at the eerily early hour for him and I, of eight a.m. Even Billy had asked what we were doing up so early.

"What do you want to do?" I had expected the days leading up to the wedding to be the same as the previous two, but apparently Jacob doesn't like doing the same things over and over.

Jacob looked thoughtful for a few moments before he stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "I got it! How do you feel about motorcycles?"

Jacob's behavior was beginning to scare me. I figured he must really be trying not to think about poor Seth, so I let it slide. "Umm… They're dangerous?"

"Only if Bella's riding them… Now if I'm at the helm, there isn't a safer way to travel. You're more likely to be hit by someone on a motorcycle than to get hurt with me." He grinned at me.

I didn't like where this was going. "What's your point…?"

He grabbed my hand a dragged me along behind him as he walked outside to the makeshift garage he built next to his house. Inside sat a black motorcycle.

"Looks nice, how much did that cost?" I was hoping to keep him away from asking me to ride it with him.

He snorted. "This is one of the two bikes Bella had me rebuild."

"Wait, _this_ is one of them? This shiny, new looking motorcycle?" I pointed at it. I was fascinated. Bella hadn't told me he was _this _good of mechanic.

He just nodded his head.

"How did you do that? Bella said the two bikes she brought you were junk."

"My mad skills. Her bike looks just as good, aside from the scratches from when she crashed…" He pointed to different parts of the bike explaining how he rebuilt it, but I had no idea what he was talking about. I nodded along, adding the occasional 'ahh…' when I found necessary. "So what do you think, wanna ride?"

_Damn… So much for avoiding this… _"Umm… I'm not sure…"

"Oh come on. You rode me when I was a wolf. You're telling me you feel safer like that than on a motorcycle?" He had a point.

"Well you were… fuzzy…" I was just pulling stuff out of no where, trying to delay the inevitable.

Jacob stared at me with an eyebrow raised. "Wait wait wait, so if my bike was fuzzy, you'd ride it…?"

"Umm…" I really had no idea where that came from.

"Come on. I promise you'll be fine." He wheeled the bike out of the garage and onto the road. He sat on the bike and kick started it. It was surprisingly quiet for a motorcycle. I assumed the muffler worked well. "You can hold on to me, if that'll make you feel better."

I sighed and begrudgingly sat behind Jacob. I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight. "Go slow."

He laughed. "What? I'm sorry I couldn't hear you, I was too busy going fast." And with that, he peeled out down the road.

I held on tighter. I was deathly afraid of falling off and smashing my skull open. I felt his body shake as he must've laughed.

After a few minutes it started to be kind of fun. I figured out how to lean with him as we turned corners, and all in all I was glad he made me do this. That's when I loosened my hold on him and he decided to go faster so I'd be forced to hold onto him tighter.

_Sweet mother of God… I could've just died right there… _For the rest of the ride I held on as tight as I could as Jacob sped down all sorts of different roads.

That was, of course, until I heard sirens. "Damn it!" Jacob yelled over the sound of his motorcycle's engine.

Jacob slowed to a stop along the side of the road. He shut the bike off and I felt a little mocking was in order after the torture I was put through. "Ooh… Jacob's in trouble…"

"Yeah, yeah… Laugh it up. You wait until we're on the way back." Jacob sighed as the police officer walked over to us.

"Jacob? I didn't recognize you with someone on the back of your motorcycle." The cop apparently knew who Jacob was. He took off his aviator glasses and tucked them into his shirt pocket.

"Oh hey, Charlie. This is Terry. My umm… a friend of mine. And, Bella's too actually." Jacob didn't tell him I was his imprint and I wondered why. _It must be because it's a wolf thing, and he doesn't know about that stuff._

Charlie held out his hand to me. "I'm Charlie Swan, Bella's father. I haven't heard of you before, how do you know Bella?"

I realized I was still holding on to Jacob. I quickly let go and shook his hand. "I'm her old best friend from Phoenix. Nice to meet you, sir." _That's right, Bella's father was the chief of police in Forks._

"Now Jacob…" Charlie's went back into 'cop-mode'. "Do you know how fast you were going?"

"Umm… Fast enough to make him scream like a girl." He laughed and Charlie laughed with him. _Stupid… I was not screaming like a girl, I wasn't even screaming…_

"You know I should give you a ticket for speeding. _And _for endangering your friend here." He motioned to me. "But I'm gonna let it slide, just this once."

Jacob sighed in relief. "Thank you so much Charlie."

Charlie grabbed his glasses from his pocket and began putting them on. "What does your chain say?"

_Crap… _There was no explaining this one.

He grabbed the tag on the chain Jacob was wearing. "_P.O. Terry Prokop…_ What does that mean?"

Jacob didn't hesitate. "It stands for 'Property Of'."

Charlie looked at the two of us, suspiciously. "Right…"

I instantly spoke. "He lost a bet and is my slave for a week. He apparently took it very seriously and had that made."

"Jacob Jacob Jacob… Speeding, endangering others, and underage gambling…" He laughed as he turned back to his car. "Drive safe you guys." He got into his car and waved as he drove past us.

Jacob didn't move.

"Umm… Jake? Aren't we gonna go?" I wondered what this was about. I should've known though.

"Why did you say that? There was no bet, I'm not your slave."

I had nothing to say. I just wrapped my arms around him.

He sighed. "Are you ashamed that I imprinted on you?"

"Jacob, it's not that. I honestly don't know why I said that. It just… came out of my mouth before I knew what I was saying." I tightened my hold. "Don't be upset, please."

He was silent for a moment. "I'm not. I understand. Two guys is something that's a little weird."

"Come on, not this again. You know that has nothing to do with this. I just figured that this… us… that we're not Charlie's business."

I could feel his emotion change. "You're right, I suppose. And having a long conversation about the two of us with Charlie, really isn't something I want to do."

"Me neither." I was glad he wasn't upset. "Alright, let's go."

Jacob laughed. "That's right, let's head back. I'll really open her up this time. Let's see how much I can make you scream." He kick started the bike.

"That's another thing. I didn't scr-" My words were cut off by the sound of the engine as Jacob took off down the street.


	24. Preparations

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

24. PREPARATIONS

"Terry… It's time to wake up." Jacob's voice stirred me from my dreams. "We should start getting ready for the wedding."

I opened my eyes and sat up off of Jacob's chest. I looked at the clock, which read '10:27'. "When is it?"

"I'm pretty sure the invitations said two. We should shower and eat and you should get dressed. Then we'll head over to the Cullens' house." Jacob got up and walked over to the door. "I'll start breakfast if you want to shower."

"Alright." I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. As I turned on the shower and got inside, my mind started to wander. _Bella's actually getting married today. She's definitely a little young for this, but I suppose with Edward being forever seventeen, they should marry soon. Is Edward going to change Bella into a vampire? I know she talked about wanting to, but Edward was always reluctant to do it. _

There was a knock at the door. "You just about done? I would like some hot water for my shower too…"

"Yeah, sorry. I guess I kinda zoned out." I turned off the water and grabbed my towel.

Jacob opened the door and turned the water on again. He apparently didn't think waiting for me to leave, or even put my towel on was of any importance. I wrapped my towel around my waist and walked to Jacob's room. I looked around the room for the clothes Edward had given me and eventually found them. As I finished buttoning the shirt Jacob walked into his room.

"And that's how long showers should take." He smiled at me.

"Jacob, what do you think of Bella getting married?" I never really asked him how he felt about his best friend's marriage.

Jacob grabbed a pair of shorts. "I think it's great. Well now anyway. If she had told me she was going to marry Edward before I met you… I don't know how I would've handled that."

We ate breakfast as we talked more about the wedding. Apparently, Billy had gone over to Charlie's house earlier today. Jacob told me that Charlie invited Billy along to the wedding. They were close friends as it turned out.

When we finished eating, I put on the jacket that Edward had brought over on my birthday. Surprisingly, it fit very nicely. Jacob complimented me on how I looked.

"Alright, let's go." Jacob lead the way out of the house to his makeshift garage.

"We're not taking your motorcycle, are we?"

He smiled in return. "It's the most fun way."

"Yeah until Charlie pulls you over." Even then it was fun for Jacob. He got out of a ticket with no problem.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." He pushed the bike out to the road, and kick started it. "Hop on."

I, once again, begrudgingly climbed onto the motorcycle, holding on to Jacob as tightly as I could. The ride wasn't nearly as bad as the first time we rode. I must've gotten used to it.

Within a few minutes we pulled up the long driveway of the Cullens' house. Edward stood in the doorway, apparently expecting our arrival. "Jacob, Terry, come in."

"So, today's the big day, huh Edward?" I was expecting to see him be nervous, but he wasn't. He was as calm and collected as always.

"Yes, yes it is. And I couldn't be happier." He turned to Jacob. "You're tuxedo is upstairs."

Jacob nodded and walked up the stairs.

Edward smiled at me. "Would you like to meet my family?"

He had said I would meet them at the wedding. I was excited to see this vampire family.

"This way." Edward lead me into the living room which was filled with white blossoms. Almost everything in the room was covered by flowers. On the opposite side of the room stood an elegantly crafted arch, that too, covered in flowers. There were rows of chairs on either side of the room, Edward told me I'd be sitting on the left side, the bride's side, during the ceremony. We walked up to the arch where I was introduced to two people. "These are my parents, for all intents and purposes. Carlisle and Esme."

"Nice to meet you, it was Terry right?" Carlisle had the face of a male model. He didn't look that much older than Edward.

I offered my hand for a hand shake, he wasn't so reluctant as Edward was when we first met. "Yes, Terry Prokop. I was Bella's best friend in Phoenix."

"Well Terry, any friend of Bella's is a friend of ours." Esme smiled warmly. Her golden eyes look filled with compassion that rivaled Carlisle's. This was a family full of love.

"Thank you. The house looks beautiful." I liked being accepted by supernatural creatures.

Esme laughed. "I can't take the credit for this. It was all Alice, she's been working on this nonstop for a while."

A tall blonde man walked over to us, his gold eyes told me he was Edward's family as well. "Carlisle, I'm going to go get Bella's mother now."

Carlisle nodded. Edward reached out to the man. "Wait. Terry, I'd like you to meet Jasper, my brother."

Jasper turned to me and smiled. "Pleasure to meet you. If you'll excuse me, I have to leave." He was so polite and charismatic. It was weird to be near the Cullens and how refined they are, considering all the time I've spent with Jacob.

Edward lead the way to the stairs. "I'd introduce you to Alice and Rosalie, but I'm pretty sure Alice would tear my head off if I so much as took a step onto the stairs." He laughed. "I'm not sure where Emmett is…"

"Do you mind if I go up and see them?" I also wanted to see Bella before she walked the aisle.

"Not at all." Edward turned and walked towards the arch.

I walked up the stairs and looked around. There were several doors but they all were open accept for one. I assumed that was the door where Bella was. I knocked on the door. "Who is it?"

The pixie-like voice took me off guard. "I uhh… It's Terry, Bella's friend. Can I come in?"

The door opened and inside were three of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. A short, dark haired girl that almost floated around the room as she walked, a blonde haired, statuesque girl, and a brunette in an elegant, white wedding dress. It took me a minute to realize that it was Bella.

Bella smiled. "Terry, I'm glad you're here. Alice, Rosalie. This is Terry, my best friend from Phoenix."

The dark haired pixie walked over to me and hugged me. "I'm Alice. Nice to meet you."

Rosalie remained where she was fixing Bella's hair.

"I just wanted to come see you before… well you know." I wanted to tell her about how happy I am for her but there was another knock on the door.

"Bella, honey, you look beautiful." I knew who that woman was, it was Bella's mom Renée from Phoenix. Behind her Charlie came in and the room started to get really crowded. I squeezed passed them all and stepped back into the hallway.

"There you are. I was looking all over for you." I turned to see Jacob walking down the hall. He had on his new tuxedo and he looked great.

I smiled at him. "I was meeting Edward's family."

"You wanna go sit down?" Jacob adjusted the collar on his shirt and started fanning himself.

"Little warm?"

"You have no idea! I haven't worn this many layers in who knows how long." He groaned. "This is going to take forever, isn't it…?"

"Probably." We walked down the stairs and sat on Bella's side of the room. "You know, I'm surprised you didn't roll up the sleeves or anything. Knowing you, you probably would cut those pants into shorts."

He sighed and reached into his pocket. He took out a folded piece of paper and handed it to me. "I was threatened."

The note read: _Dear Jacob, I know you have problems with being hot all the time, but you will not, I repeat NOT tamper with this tuxedo in anyway or so help me I will tear your head off. Love, Alice._

I laughed. "Looks like Alice threatens everyone the same way then. Edward said if he had gone upstairs at all she would've done the same thing to him. What an interesting family Bella is getting in to."


	25. Matrimony

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

25. MATRIMONY

The wedding had just about started when the wolf pack got to the house. They all looked tense, I assumed it was because of being in a house of vampires. Seth looked comfortable enough around them. Jacob had said Seth and Edward were close friends.

I sat in the second row behind Renée, her husband Phil, and Billy. There was an empty seat next to Billy for Charlie. I was closest to the aisle, Seth, Paul, and Embry sat next to me and behind us sat Sam, Quil, and Jared. Sam had brought a woman as his date who I had found out was Emily. The pack all wore suits, to my surprise, despite having such high temperatures. And behind them were a few more people that I assumed were Bella's friends from high school.

On Edward's side of the room Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, and a big guy I'm assuming was Edward's other brother Emmett, all sat in the front row. Behind them were four more beautiful people, all with golden eyes like the Cullens. They were vampires from Alaska.

Under the arch stood Edward with his hands behind his back. The minister stood a little behind Edward, holding a Bible in front of himself. Next to Edward was Jacob. He constantly looked at me and mouthed sentences that I couldn't really understand. I had assumed they were pointless ramblings as Edward continuously rolled his eyes.

Rosalie was playing the piano, I only noticed that because the song that she was playing suddenly changed and I looked to see where the sound was coming from. Everyone turned to look at the stairs. Alice was at the top and she turned around, said something, and then began a slow decent down the stairs. She took her place near the arch.

At this point the traditional wedding march began. At the top of the stairs, Bella, arm in arm with Charlie, began a steady walk down. _Oh man, if Bella trips… _Luckily she did not. With both feet safely on the ground, they began walking down the aisle. Bella turned her head and smiled when she saw the entire pack, minus Leah, was there.

When she reached the arch, Charlie did the age old tradition of taking her hand and having Edward take it from him. He took his seat next to Billy. Edward smiled at Bella and I realized that they did belong together. I was glad things worked out for them.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman, in holy matrimony.

I noticed Jacob was still staring at me. His eyes constantly were on me for most of the ceremony.

As the speech went on, the minister finally got to the exchanging of vows. He turned to face Edward. "Do you, Edward Cullen, take Isabella Swan to be your lawfully wedded wife? To love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sadness and in joy, to cherish and continually bestow upon her your heart's deepest devotion, forsaking all others, keeping yourself only unto her until death do you part?"

I looked at Jacob who smirked and then bit his lip. Edward glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "I do."

The minister turned to Bella. "And do you, Isabella Swan, take Edward Cullen to be your lawfully wedded husband? To love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sadness and in joy, to cherish and continually bestow upon him your heart's deepest devotion, forsaking all others, keeping yourself only unto him until death do you part?"

Bella looked deeply into Edward's eyes, as tears began to form in hers. "I do."

Edward took a ring and held Bella's hand. "With this ring, I thee wed." He slid the ring onto her finger.

Bella did the same. "With this ring, I thee wed."

The minister began his final speech. "In as much as the two before me have consented together in marriage before this company of friends and family and have pledged their faith and declared their unity by giving and receiving a ring are now joined. And so, by the power invested in me by the State of Washington, I now pronounce you man and wife. And may your days be good and long upon the Earth. You may kiss the bride."

Edward place his hand on the side of Bella's face and leaned in to kiss her with the most intensity and passion I have ever seen. The crowd stood and applauded. Bella and Edward walked arm in arm down the aisle, followed by Jacob and Alice. The two of them looked funny together considering the massive height difference. Behind them walked Renée and Carlisle, and Charlie and Esme.

The crowd had followed them outside of the Cullens' house to the back yard which was filled with tables and chairs. A dance floor, and a DJ were also out there. There was what looked to be a bar near the house, and a professional bartender was there wiping down glasses. The entire back yard was lit up by lights that were strung all around. The sun was just setting behind the trees and it made for a glorious image.

As people started to take their seats, Jacob had walked over to me. "That did take forever."

I laughed. "Longer than I thought it would take, actually."

"Tell me about it! I was dying of heat stroke up there. Although standing next to Edward made it easier to bare, given how cold he is." Jacob lead me to a table. Seth was sitting there by himself. I looked around and the rest of the pack was actually mingling with Edward's family.

Jacob took off his jacket and hung it on a chair. "Mind if we sit here with you?"

Seth shook his head.

I hung my jacket on a chair as well. "Looks like people are getting pictures taken." I pointed to a photographer taking pictures of Edward and Bella.

Jacob grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the photographer. "We'll be right back Seth. Come on Terry."

We waited in line as couples had their pictures taken. Eventually it was our turn. Jacob had his hand on my back and I looked up at him to see he had a big smile. I faced the camera and smiled.

As we sat back down at Seth's table, Edward had walked over to us. He laid a hand on Jacob's shoulder. "I really want to thank you for being my best man. It means a lot to Bella. And it means a lot to me as well."

"It's nothing really. Bella's my best friend, and since Terry came around I have no reason to hate you anymore." Jacob smiled. "I guess we can be friends now." He held his hand out.

Edward shook his hand. "I would very much like that." He looked a Seth. "Thank you for coming. I'm glad you're here."

Seth smiled and stood up. He walked over to Edward, who held out his hand. Seth pushed it aside and hugged him. "I'm happy for you Edward. I always knew you and Bella would be together. No offense Jake…"

"None taken." Jacob smiled at me.

"Thank you Seth. Now if you'll excuse me, I should go thank the rest of the pack for coming." Edward smiled as he left.

I watched Seth as he sat back down. I was surprised he was so smiley, seeing as how he was so torn up a few days ago. _He must be really good at putting on a happy face._

"Can I have your attention please?" Everyone turned to look at Charlie. "If you'd all take your seats…" After everyone sat down he continued. "I'd like to thank you all for being here for my daughters wedding. It means a lot to me to know she's being welcomed in to such a loving family." I thought I saw tears forming in his eyes. "Anyway. Umm… Before I start crying, I know the Quileute boys are probably starving, so I figured I'd let you all know that dinner is about to be served."

The pack all cheered. _What an interesting family _I'm _welcomed in to…_


	26. Dancing

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

26. DANCING

As we waited for the food to be served, waiters came around taking drink orders. When our waiter got to our table, Jacob and I ordered champagne. Traditional wedding celebratory drink. The waiter turned to Seth. "And for you sir?"

Seth looked at him. "I'll have a virgin Bloody Mary."

The waiter laughed. "Sir… I would give you that, but I guarantee you won't want to drink it. It'll basically be hot sauce and tomato juice without the alcohol."

Seth's face turned red. Jacob spoke for him. "He'll have champagne as well."

"Very good sir." The waiter walked away.

I looked at Jacob. He had a mocking face. "Really Seth? A virgin Bloody Mary? You almost sounded so grown up."

"Shut up…" Seth crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.

When the waiter returned with our drinks, Jacob grabbed his glass and stood up. "I'll be right back." He walked over to the big table where Edward and Bella were sitting. He stood behind them. "Hey everyone? I'd like to propose a toast. Seeing as how I'm the best man."

Everybody turned to face him.

Jacob cleared his throat. "Alright where to begin…? Well I know the Cullens have always been at odds with my family, and when I started to like Bella, I developed more hatred towards Edward because he could have her and I couldn't. But recently things have all changed. Seth was the first of us to make friends with a Cullen."

Edward looked at Seth and nodded.

"And more recently, a certain set of events," Jacob looked into my eyes, "have made me realize that I shouldn't be angry at Edward for loving Bella. Because I can see that he truly does love her. And as long as he loves her more than I ever could have, there is no reason for me to feel bad about this marriage." He laid a hand on Edward's shoulder. "Basically what I'm trying to say is that Edward, despite my first impressions of him, is a really good guy, and I wish him and Bella the best of luck in their relationship. To Edward and Bella." He raised his glass.

Everyone else raised their glasses and drank from them. Bella stood up and hugged Jacob. He looked like he was getting into a conversation with them so I made small talk with Seth.

Eventually the food was served and Jacob devoured all of his and some of mine. I looked around and the other pack members tables were filled with empty dishes. _They sure can eat…_

After dinner, the DJ called Bella and Edward to the dance floor. A song that I instantly recognized began playing as they slowly spun in a circle.

"What is this crappy song?" Jacob apparently did not know the song, or the significance it had for them.

"Jacob! Shh! It's called 'Flightless Bird, American Mouth'. Bella told me this was the song they danced to at the junior prom." She had also explained that it was the first time she tried to convince Edward to change her into a vampire.

He rolled his eyes. "What a weird song name…" After he stopped mocking the name, his facial expression turned into a thoughtful one.

I wanted to ask what he was thinking about, but the music had stopped and Jacob got up and excused himself. He walked over to all the other pack members and, I'm assuming told them something. Jacob then walked over to the DJ and talked to him for a minute. The DJ smiled and nodded his head.

Jacob walked back over to the table me and Seth were sitting at. "Ready Seth?"

"Hell yes!" Seth got out of his chair and walked to the rest of the pack. Jacob turned to walk with him.

I grabbed his arm. "What are you guys doing?"

He looked at me and smiled. "Something embarrassing probably."

Jacob, Seth, Paul, Quil, Embry, and Jared all walked to the middle of the dance floor. They stood in a straight line facing the crowd of people sitting at the tables. Jacob was in the middle with Seth and Paul on his right, Quil Embry and Jared on his left.

I looked over at Sam who looked at me and just shook his head.

A pounding bass beat came from the speakers as a song I recognized as 'Rock Your Body' played. What happened next made my jaw drop. The pack members who where on the dance floor all started dancing in synchrony. It was a sight to see, six men the size they were all 'passing to the left' and 'sailing to the right'. The crowd erupted into applause as they continued their dancing. They all moved their bodies so sensually and sexually it was very entertaining.

Then the line of the song, that made most people in the audience burst out into laughter, played. "Better have you naked by the end of this song." As the word 'naked' was played, the dancing pack members all ripped their shirts open revealing their bare chests, sending a rain of buttons at the audience.

I looked over at Edward and Bella. Bella had her hand over her face, I was pretty sure she was laughing. Edward was openly cracking up.

When the song came to a close, they all bowed. Everyone at the tables applauded and cheered loudly. As Jacob and Seth made their way back to the table, they were stopped every few feet by someone shaking their hands and saying what a good job they did.

"So what did you think?" Jacob sat in his chair.

"I'm impressed. I didn't think you guys had moves." I pointed at Jacob's ripped shirt and exposed chest. "You do know Alice said not to ruin that right?"

Jacob shrugged. "Whatever. The important part of the wedding is over anyway."

He had a point. "I guess."

"That was the secret by the way."

_That's right! Jacob said he'd tell me what the secret was at the wedding. _"How long have you guys been planning that?"

Jacob laughed and looked at Seth. "Well one day we were all hanging out and Seth started playing music and that song came on. He thought he was hot stuff and started dancing. Then it turned in to a competition to see who could dance better. Eventually we all started doing the same moves, until we decided to practice that."

"So you practiced all that just for the wedding?" That seemed like a lot of work.

"No actually. We never thought we'd have a chance to dance in front of anyone. Then when I took the invitations to the wedding to the guys, they were all like 'Finally!'." Jacob sighed and leaned back in his chair. "That was a lot of fun."

"It looked like it." I knew the pack was a fun group of guys.


	27. Certainty

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

27. CERTAINTY

The wedding continued with more dances. Charlie and Bella danced for the traditional 'Father/Daughter' dance, followed by Edward and Esme for the 'Mother/Son' dance. Edward and Esme gracefully danced across the floor like they were floating, it was much different from Charlie and Bella, nearly tripping over each others feet.

As the night went on, more couples started dancing. Sam and Emily, Carlisle and Esme, Emmett and Rosalie, Jasper and Alice, Renée and Phil, Renée even danced with Charlie at one point. Most of the pack stayed sitting.

After several hours of dancing and socializing, the night was coming to an end. Before anyone left, the DJ called everyone to the dance floor for the bouquet and garter tosses. As everyone got to the dance floor, Jacob left to go to the bathroom. I was facing Seth having a conversation when he suddenly yelled, "Look out!"

I turned just in time to have a bunch of flowers hit me in the face. I was able to catch them before they hit the ground. It took me a minute to figure out what just happened. Apparently Bella really threw the bouquet with all she could muster because it passed over the group of women gathered near her to catch it and headed for me instead.

I looked up as Jacob was walking over to the dance floor. When he realized what I had caught, his face changed through a rainbow of emotions before settling on surprised. "Well look at that. Terry's the next to get married." Jacob said, repeating the 'superstition' of catching the bouquet.

A chair was brought over to the middle of the floor, and Bella took a seat. Edward knelt before her and lifted her dress just high enough to expose the garter she was wearing. Carefully, he used his teeth to pull it down Bella's leg, as Emmett and Jasper hollered. Looking over his shoulder to where Jacob and I were standing, and with a quick snap, the garter sailed across the dance floor. Using his superior reflexes, Jacob caught it before it hit him in the face.

Edward's voice came over the speakers. "If those of you who have not caught either of the thrown items, would please leave the dance floor, at this time I'd like to have the two who have caught them, dance." A smile crept across his lips, as the other guests erupted into laughter.

Edward leaned over to the DJ and whispered something to him. A familiar song began playing as he and the rest of the guests left the dance floor. Jacob held his hand out to me. "May I have this dance?"

He was so sincere and there was just something about him that I couldn't say no to. I just nodded my head and took his hand. Jacob placed his hands on my hips and I laid my hands on his chest. The guests were laughing at our situation, but I felt a lot of seriousness in what we were doing.

We slowly began rocking back and forth on the dance floor as Jacob began singing the lyrics softly. "From this moment life has begun. From this moment you are the one. Right beside you, is where I belong, from this moment on."

I had no idea he could sing. The words melted around me, as his eyes pierced my soul.

"From this moment I have been blessed, I live only for your happiness. And for your love I'd give my last breath, from this moment on. I give my hand to you with all my heart. I can't wait to live my life with you, can't wait to start. You and I will never be apart. My dreams came true because of you." The conviction in his voice told me those lyrics meant more to him than just a song. Those were his exact feelings.

I couldn't say anything, I was entranced by his voice. The other guests must've stopped laughing because I couldn't hear them anymore, but his stare kept me from checking.

He held me closer to him as he continued to sing. "From this moment as long as I live, I will love you, I promise you this. There is nothing I wouldn't give, from this moment on. You're the reason I believe in love, and you're the answer to my prayers from up above. All we need is just the two of us. My dreams came true because of you."

It began to feel like 'all we needed was just the two of us'. It started to feel like we were the center of the universe and nothing else mattered.

As the song came to a close, he sang the final few lines. "From this moment as long as I live, I will love you, I promise you this. There is nothing I wouldn't give, from this moment-I will love you as long as I live, from this moment on."

The song ended but he continued to hold me close to him. We still rocked back and forth as the realization hit me harder than anything ever did before. I felt my jaw drop. I tried to say something but all that came out was, "Jacob…" My knees started to feel weak, I wanted to tell him every thought I was having, but I couldn't.

So I did what I felt was right. I stretched as high as I could, rested my hand on the side of his face, and kissed him. He placed his hand on the nape of my neck, with his thumb touching my ear, as he pulled me even closer to him.

Everything became so clear to me at that moment. I knew what I wanted. I knew what I had. I knew what I loved. And they were all the same thing. Jacob Black.

When the kiss ended, Jacob held me as he looked deeply into my eyes. I have never seen him happier. "Terry, I love you."

Staring back at him, I said the words that I should've said the first time. The words that were always true, I just never knew it. The words that Jacob deserved to hear. "And I love you, Jacob."

We stood in silence for what felt like an eternity. A slow clap made me turn from Jacob's eyes. It was Edward. He stood at the big table, clapping his hands. I looked around at all the faces that were staring at us. Shocked faces.

Slowly, one by one, other people started clapping as well. Bella was the first, besides Edward, to clap. Then Seth, and the rest of the pack followed him. Billy, and Edward's family were next. The three who didn't clap, and still had surprised faces, were Charlie, Renée, and Phil. But after a glare from Bella they did.

I guess that must've been something to see. Jacob led me, arm in arm, back to our table. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. _How could I not have felt this before…? _Jacob just smiled.

"Alright, now that that's all said and done, I'd like to thank you all for coming." Edward was again on the speakers.

Bella's voice was next. "Umm… Thank you guys. This really meant a lot to me, and… Just thank you, really."

People started to get up to leave. Jacob stayed sitting with me. I grabbed his arm. "Jacob… Let's go home."

His face looked surprised at my request. "What did you say?"

"'Let's go home'?" I didn't know what was wrong with that.

Jacob nodded and smiled. "Home… That's the first time you said that."

I thought for a moment. "That's the first time it felt like it."

Jacob stared at me with his beautiful eyes. He then pulled me close to him for another kiss. That kiss wasn't soft and tender like the one on the dance floor. That was a kiss filled with an urgency, a _need_ if you will.

He looked into my eyes once more after the kiss. "Come here." He grabbed my hand and walked over to Billy. "On second thought… Terry, can you… stand over there?"

I looked at him, it was like my feet were cemented to the ground.

"Just for a minute." He smiled. I could tell he was enjoying himself.

I walked a few steps back. Jacob bent down and whispered something to Billy. Billy raised an eyebrow and looked at me suspiciously. _What did he say…? _Finally he nodded.

Jacob hugged him and walked over to me. "Let's go home. Billy's staying over Charlie's… So we can be alone."

I wasn't sure what exactly had happened to me, I felt no remorse about the situation I was in. I wanted to spend the night with Jacob alone in his house. I just nodded.

Smiling, he led me to his motorcycle. He started it, and I got on with him without any hesitation. I could feel his laughter. "Good to see you've gotten used to this." He peeled out of the driveway and I held on to him tightly. It felt good, it felt right.

When we got to his house, we got off of his motorcycle and he just stared at me. His lovey-dovey eyes didn't bother me anymore, as I was sure I looked the same. He smiled as he picked me up and carried me into the house.

Jacob laid me on the bed, and climbed in after me. "Terry… To have you sleep with me in my bed, after you said you love me… I don't think this can get any better."

I sat up and climbed onto his stomach. I said the words again. The words that I denied for too long. "I love you."

He propped himself up on his elbows and kissed me. His lips pressed to mine, kissing Jacob was a sensation I had not expected to experience so soon. It had only been a little more than two weeks since I had met Jacob, but this felt too right to deny. He flipped me over laying me on my back and knelt over me, placing his hands on either side of my arms.

I ran my hands down his chest and stomach. He stared into my eyes. "Terry…"

I didn't need to feel what I felt, to know what he wanted. He wanted to make love to me. And I wanted him to. I wanted to make up for all the time I spent denying him. All the love he gave me, that I threw away. "Jacob… I want you…" The words came out before I even knew what I was going to say.

Jacob looked surprised. "I-I… Are you sure? I don't want to rush anything… I want our time to be special."

Maybe he was right. _Maybe we should take it slow… _A part of me wanted to wait, but that part was quickly overwhelmed by the part that wanted him. I was at a loss for words. I kissed him. As our lips touched, I opened my mouth and licked his lips. He parted his lips and our tongues found each other, as his tongue gently caressed the inside of my mouth.

He pulled his head back, and once more stared into my eyes. I nodded my head and kissed him again, giving him the answer the way I answered him earlier.


	28. Slowly

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

28. SLOWLY

I woke up the next morning much like all mornings. Only this time I felt much different. I felt… extremely sore. I ached in places I didn't even know I had. But it was a good ache, because the cause was good.

What was the cause? Well one thing is absolutely certain. Jacob Black was apparently made for sex.

I lifted my head, I wanted to see him. To see the man I loved. When I sat up, a searing pain shot through my core. The good ache was gone. It was replaced with pain. I let out a muffled moan.

It was enough of a noise for Jacob to sit up alert. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I lied, I didn't want him to know he caused me pain.

"Then why did you moan like that?" He touched the side of my face. "Did I hurt you?"

I didn't say anything, but apparently my facial expression said enough.

"Terry… I wanted to wait… To take it slow… I didn't mean to hurt you…" He looked sad.

"You didn't. I'm fine. I'm just a little sore is all." That much was true. I was sore.

Jacob didn't look convinced. "I'm sorry."

I laid back down. "Let's talk about something else."

"Alright. Well, I didn't tell you how much that dance with you meant to me." Jacob smiled.

"I figured it meant a lot considering what happened afterwards."

He smirked. "What exactly happened? I can't seem to recall what it was you said last night…"

I looked him directly in the eyes and said it again. "I love you."

"That's right, that's right. I remember now." He laid next to me. We stayed in bed silently for a while. Each lost in our own thoughts.

Finally I spoke. "You know, if it wasn't for Bella's wedding, we never would have met."

"And I'd still be miserable…"

I thought about that for a minute. "Well what if Bella chose you instead of Edward?"

He propped himself up on one elbow. "What do you mean?"

"What if Bella fell in love with you, and picked your love over Edward's? You never would have imprinted on me." The idea of not having Jacob's love actually frightened me.

He shook his head. "That's not true. I would've imprinted on you anyway. Bella still would've invited you to the wedding, and I would've seen you that way, and imprinted like I did."

"That would've broken Bella's heart. I mean look at what happened to Leah…" I immediately regretted saying anything about her. I didn't want to ruin the good mood we both were in.

But Jacob didn't seem phased by it. "It's different for Leah though, remember we can hear each others thoughts as wolves. So she would hear every thought Sam had about Emily."

I didn't want to talk about Sam and Leah, I wanted to focus on us. I tried to bring the conversation back. "Well maybe Bella would deserve some heart break after what she did to you when Edward left."

Jacob shook his head again. "That doesn't matter anymore. My heart may have been broken by her, but when I saw you, you instantly fixed it. And when you said you loved me, you gave me a new one. My heart belongs to you. Just like I do." He grabbed his dog tag.

"Just like I belong to you." I grabbed his hand and we interlaced our fingers. I wasn't usually the lovey-dovey type of person, but I just couldn't help it. The feelings were pouring out of me, and were hard to keep in check. I honestly couldn't fathom how he was able to be so close to me and yet so far at the same time.

"What would you like to do today?" His chocolate eyes stared deep into my soul.

It took me a minute to remember to breathe. I then felt extremely sheepish. I felt like Bella. Like how she would explain to me how she acted whenever Edward stared in her eyes. "Can we go to your spot in the woods?"

He smiled. "Of course. But it's our spot now." He climbed out of bed and I realized he was completely naked. We both were. I looked as his muscled physique as he scoured the room for clothes, tossing ripped pieces of fabric around.

He was extremely good looking. _How did I not notice this before…? _A black piece of cloth landed on the bed in front of me. I recognized it as part of the shirt Edward had let me borrow. "Jacob, umm… What exactly happened last night?"

His face turned red. "…Well, I guess in the heat of the moment, I forgot my own strength… I couldn't get the damn buttons undone, so I just ripped it off…"

"Why is the sleeve the only part left?" I held up the piece of fabric that slightly resembled a sleeve.

"I don't know." Jacob started laughing.

I laughed with him. "You know Edward might be upset, right?"

"So? Let him be upset. Besides, he's probably too busy on his honeymoon to care anyway." He found a pair of shorts and put them on. He then threw me my boxers, khaki pants, and faded T-shirt.

I needed to get up to get dressed. But it hurt to move. I tried to distract him from noticing me in pain with more conversation. "Did you always know I'd love you?"

He laughed a little. "No. To be honest, I was afraid I'd lose you…"

"Jacob… I could never leave you like that. Not even if I wanted to."

He stared into my eyes for a moment and then nodded.

I had finally gotten out of the bed and got dressed, trying my best to ignore the pain and not show any signs of distress. I turned around and Jacob was staring at me. "What?"

A smirk crossed his lips. "You're beautiful."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh please. You're the one with the bazillion ab muscles, and ripped arms and all that jazz."

Jacob imitated Paul's voice from one of the times we were with him. "It's ok to be jealous. You can touch them if you want to." He started flexing.

"I'm pretty sure there was enough touching last night to last us for a while…" The events of last night will forever be in my thoughts, as the first time we ever had sex. And it was good.

He frowned. "A while? How long is a while? I spent like two weeks with blue balls after the first time I saw you. I don't know if I can wait like that again."

"Easy there Jake." I put my hand on his shoulder. "Let's just see how things go. You wanted to take it slow right? 'Make our time special'? We were very emotionally charged last night and I think that it'd be best if we took it slow like you said."

He nodded. "Good idea. But it would've been simpler if you just said you needed time to recover." A sly smile crossed his lips.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever." There was some truth in that statement though. But I really didn't want to ruin anything with Jacob by going wildly out of control. So we decided to take our time.


	29. Sanctuary

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

29. SANCTUARY

Walking around was much more of a project than I thought it would've been. And I had thought standing was painful. I tried to distract myself from the pain as I sat at the kitchen table. I had plenty to think about. Jacob. Where our lives together would go. What I wanted to do with the newly formed 'us'.

As Jacob made breakfast, he constantly looked over his shoulder at me. I wasn't sure why, but I guessed it was because he was worried that I was in pain. I was, but that wasn't important.

We had eaten breakfast with some light conversation and a lot of looking deeply in each others eyes. It felt good to be loved. It felt good to love someone.

I got up from the table as Jacob cleared the dishes, so he wouldn't notice my struggle. I successfully managed to make it outside. Jacob took my hand and we started to walk towards the woods behind his house. _I'm not gonna make it…_

He felt my pace slow. "What's wrong?"

"Umm…" I shuffled my feet.

I heard him sigh. "You are in pain, aren't you…?"

Lying to him took too much effort. I just looked at the ground and nodded my head. I really didn't want to see what expression he had.

Suddenly I was swept off my feet. "I'll carry you then." I looked up to see Jacob smiling down at me.

He gracefully carried me through the woods, never slowing his pace, his breathing never becoming erratic. If I didn't know any better I would've thought he was asleep by how slow his breathing was.

"Liking the view?" He smiled.

I was staring at him constantly. "I… umm… yeah…"

I felt his booming laughter. Then his face got serious. "Why are you so ashamed of your love for me?"

That took me off guard, I didn't have an answer. I just looked at him, mystified.

A smile crossed his lips. "I thought you would've gotten passed the whole gay thing. Considering the events of last night…"

I rolled my eyes. "It was definitely all of the alcohol you made me drink."

"_Made _you drink? And what do you mean 'all of the alcohol'? You had like two glasses of champagne, max." Jacob voice got so high pitched during that, I couldn't help but laugh.

Jacob stopped walking. I looked around to see we had arrived at 'our spot'. He didn't put me down. "Umm… Jake?"

"Yeah?" He raised an eyebrow, looking genuinely curious as to what I was going to say.

"You can put me down now." I tried to get free of his grasp. It didn't happen.

He smiled. "Do I have to?" He sat in the grass and held me in his lap, facing him.

I put a hand on his chest. He was so warm, and I loved the feeling of his skin. As my hand moved down his chest, he leaned back onto his elbows. I traced the outline of his abs, and I could feel his eyes on me. "Jacob?"

"Yes?" His voice was soft and alluring, almost seductive. I wondered how Bella could've resisted him. Jacob was astoundingly beautiful, and caring. He was a perfect person to want to be with. I felt extremely lucky he wanted to be with me.

"I love you." I liked saying it.

I looked up to see his eyes, his beautiful brown eyes. "And I love you, forever and always." He placed and hand on the side of my face and leaned up to press his lips to mine.

A soft and tender kiss, that conflicted with the desire he held in his eyes. I was glad he was serious about taking it slow. I was also marveled he could, given the urgency I felt in other places of his body.

I laid next to him in the grass and he interlaced his fingers with my own. We stayed in silence for a while. The silences we shared was special. In our silence, we often said more than we could with words.

It wasn't complete silence though. The sound of the brook was ever present. I remembered where we were. "This place is really wonderful."

"Its like a sanctuary. I can come here to think and try to work out problems without having to deal with any disturbances." His voice filled with a sense of tranquility. "I feel safe here. Like nothing could ever hurt or be hurt in here."

I watched as his eyes filled with memories of the past. I'm assuming he came here often when Bella was wishy-washy between him and Edward. "Now you have two things to help you with any problems. This place and me."

"I don't think I could have problems now that I'm with you. I don't think I could be bothered by the things that bothered me before." He turned to his side to look at me. "Any problems you have I'm sure I can fix. And if I can't, this place can."

I was glad Jacob imprinted on me. To be loved by someone as much as he loves me, is a fantastic experience. I would never have to worry about being alone. I would never have to worry about being sad. I would never have to worry about anything really.

I laid on Jacob's chest and he wrapped his arms around me. His strong heartbeat, pounding away in my ear. Laying with Jacob made me feel safe. This place may be his sanctuary, but Jacob is mine.

His strong arms held me close to him as he started to hum some song I didn't recognize. It was relaxing though. The song went on for a few minutes before he stopped.

"Laying with you like this used to mean a lot to me. It means so much more now that we're together." He smiled. "I love that I can wake up every morning to you sleeping next to me."

"Where else would I be?" I kissed his chest and he tightened his arms around me.

We spent the rest of the day in 'our spot' talking and laughing, and just enjoying the company of each other. Things couldn't get better.


	30. Trouble

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

30. TROUBLE

But things could get worse.

An entire week had passed since I had confessed my love to Jacob. We spent most of our time together in 'our spot'. We didn't do much other than lay with each other, talking occasionally, but mostly enjoying our time together.

Jacob and I had sex again during that week. It wasn't nearly as painful, but it was just as special. And seeing his muscular physique over my body, claiming what was rightfully his, was a sight I was beginning to enjoy.

Not much else had happened in those seven days. We didn't really do anything. We didn't need to. All we needed was each other and we didn't want anything else.

But all good things must come to an end.

As I lay on Jacob's chest, clinging to the last few minutes of sleep, there was a knock on his bedroom door. A voice I had come to recognize, spoke in a familiar fashion as last time. "Jacob…?"

It was Seth. He sounded just as distraught as he did when he came to Jacob depressed about Leah. Jacob got up and threw me my boxers as he put his own on. He opened the door. "What's wrong Seth?"

"It's about Leah…" Again. I still felt bad for Seth, having his sister snap must've been really traumatic for him considering he's still so emotionally unstable about it.

Jacob let Seth come into his room and they sat on the bed, same as before. "What about her?"

Seth looked at Jacob for a moment, and then looked at me. As he stared into my eyes, he spoke. "She's back."

That took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting that.

"She's what?" Jacob sounded as confused as I was.

"I was running early this morning, trying to clear my head, when I heard her voice." Seth's face was unreadable. "She apologized to me for what she put me through. I explained to her that we thought she had left the pack. Apparently she just left Washington and remained human wherever she was."

I expected Jacob and Seth to be happy. A pack mate that was M.I.A. had come back. It sounded like good news to me, but their faces remained emotionless.

"She wants to talk to you about what happened. She said she feels bad about blaming your imprinting on Terry for her emotional break. She wants to make amends." Seth looked at Jacob, conveying something without words.

Something that sent a shiver down my spine. I felt like what Seth was saying wasn't the truth.

Jacob's eyes flashed to mine for a brief second, before returning to Seth's. "I'll go talk to her."

Seth nodded. I had enough of just sitting there. "I'll come with you."

"No." That was an order. "I want you to stay here."

"Why? She said she was sorry, right? There should be no problem then." I crossed my arms over my chest. I wasn't going to let him out of this easily.

Jacob turned to me, he was pleading this time. His eyes were full of concern. "Please, Terry. Please stay here."

Something was going to happen. "Jacob, no. Wherever you go, I go. Whatever problems you have are my problems too. That's what it means to be in a relationship."

Seth remained silent.

"Terry…" Jacob reached out for me.

"You told me what love was to you, remember? You told me love was this." I embraced him. "The sensation you get when you're with me, right?"

Jacob said nothing, he just held me close to him.

"I know what love is to me now. Love is us. We are love. We are one in our relationship. We share our ups and downs. I know what love is because I feel it, just like you said." I looked into his eyes. "I can't let you go by yourself."

"Terry…" He closed his eyes as a tear slid down his cheek. Then he set his jaw and took a deep breath. "No. I can't let you come with me. For your own protection, I need you to stay here. Seth?"

A new set of hands grabbed my body, pulling me away from Jacob. "Seth, no! Let me go! Jacob!"

Jacob stood up and put on a pair of shorts. He walked to his door and stood in the doorway. He looked over his shoulder, into my eyes. "I'm sorry… But I need to go. I love you…" And he left.

I squirmed as much as I could but Seth's grip didn't loosen. "Jacob? Jacob! Come back! Damn it Seth, let me go!" Tears started streaming down my face.

"I can't let you go… You need to stay here. It's safer this way." Seth's voice sounded distant, like he really didn't want to be doing this.

"Safer for who? Damn you Seth! First you took the easy way out when the rest of the pack was making fun of Jacob, and now you let him go by himself to meet with your deranged sister!" I should've felt bad for saying those things, but the anger and sadness of Jacob leaving me like this was by far more important. "Some friend you are!"

I felt Seth start to shake. But he slowly took deep breaths and the calmed back down. "I'm sorry I didn't stand up for Jacob. I already apologized for that. But Terry, this isn't about you. This is between Jacob and Leah."

"The hell it's not about me! It's because of me your sister freaked out. Jacob imprinted on me! It's my fault! If he gets hurt because of me… Damn it Seth, let me go! I need to be with him!" I struggled so hard to get out of his arms, but to no avail. Seth was just as strong as Jacob. I needed to make him let me go.

"It is not your fault. Jacob would tell you the same thing."

"He won't be able to tell me anything if your monster of a sister kills him!" The words hurt as they came out. But those words gave me the chance I needed. I felt Seth's grip loosen, so I managed to break free of his grasp. "I need to be there. I need to make sure he's ok."

Seth just sat there limply.

I would've felt sorry for him, but there were more pressing matters at hand. "Where are they meeting?"

He said nothing.

I had no time for this. I walked up to him and punched him in the face as hard as I could. I heard a cracking noise. My wrist. I broke my hand. "God _damn _it! Where are they meeting?"

Luckily my attempts to snap Seth out of it were not in vain. He rubbed the side of his face as he looked my in the eyes. "In the clearing. Where all the pack meetings take place."

"Can you take me there?" My hand started to sting.

"No. If Jacob knows I let you go, I'll be in big enough trouble as it is." Seth stood up and walked out.

My anger flared. "That's right, be a coward! Run from any problems you have, that's what Leah does!"

He didn't come back. I had no way to get to the clearing. Every second I wasted, Jacob got closer and closer to the emotionally unstable werewolf. I needed someone to help me.

I could only think of one person. I ran to the phone and dialed the number as fast as I could, trying to ignore the pain radiating from my swelling hand. "Come on! Pick up, pick up, pick up. Please be back from the honeymoon…"

I heard a voice on the other end. The soft, velvet voice of exactly who I needed.

"Edward! I need you to get to Jacob's house now!" I couldn't think of anyone else to call. "Jacob's in trouble. Leah came back and apparently they are meeting and damn it I don't have time to explain this now!"

Luckily, Edward said he'd be right over. I slammed the phone back into the receiver. Now I just needed to wait.


	31. SheWolf

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

31. SHE-WOLF

I was pacing in the front yard of Jacob's house when Edward pulled up in his Volvo. My hand had swollen and stung a lot. I tried to open the door with my broken hand and then realized too quickly that it wasn't a very good idea.

As I sat in the passenger seat, I told Edward where we were going and thought about how Jacob usually got there. Edward peeled out down the road. "Alright, what's going on?"

I didn't know where to begin so I figured I'd start from the beginning. "Sam and Leah were together for a while. Sam ended up imprinting on Emily, which broke Leah's heart. She was filled with resentment and anger, and she eventually phased into a wolf. At that point, she was forced to listen to Sam's thoughts about Emily all the time."

"I know all of this. What happened to Jacob?" Edward noticed my hand. "What did you do?"

"I'm getting there. A few other guys in the pack imprinted and that made Leah even more upset and unstable. Then Jacob imprinted on me, a guy, which no one thought was possible. That put her over the edge. She ended up running away but now she's back. Seth came this morning to tell that to Jacob. Then Jacob had Seth restrain me as he left to go meet with Leah." I rubbed my hand. "I eventually got free of Seth's grip and punched him in the face when he wouldn't answer my questions."

Edward's eyes narrowed. "I have a bad feeling about this…"

He wasn't the only one. I had a feeling Jacob was going to get hurt.

We eventually arrived at the clearing. Edward pulled over and I opened my door. I noticed he wasn't getting out, but before I could ask why he spoke. "This really has nothing to do with me. I can't get in the middle of the wolf pack's problems. I'm not even supposed to be here."

I sighed. All these rules and limitations of the vampires and werewolves were really starting to get on my nerves. Jacob was Edward's friend. He should be helping. "Alright fine. Thanks for getting me here."

He just nodded as I ran from the car. He seemed distraught at my thoughts of his disloyalty to his friends.

In the middle of the clearing, I saw Jacob facing away from me, and a few feet in front of him was a female I assumed was Leah. Jacob's fists were clenched. Their conversation wasn't going well. "No Leah, this is not my fault! You need to calm down! Not everyone can have what they want. I wanted Bella for the longest time and I constantly was broken up about her relationship with Edward. But I moved on! I didn't mope around when I knew I had lost her. I didn't threaten to kill someone else's lover!"

I got closer and their conversation continued.

"You have no idea what I went through. What I'm _going_ through! Being constantly bombarded by images of Sam and Emily." She hissed as she said Sam's name. "And then images of the others and their imprints… And soon images of you and that _faggot_!"

Jacob snarled in fury. "How dare you! I actually felt bad for you, but now I hope you never find someone to love you! After all who could love a heartless bitch like you?"

"Jacob!" I ran up next to him and his hands immediately relaxed as he turned to face me.

"Terry?" He smiled when his eyes met mine. The smile quickly faded when he realized I followed him here.

I would've stared at Jacob for longer, but I was distracted by Leah's body shaking violently. Seeing Jacob's face light up when he saw me was apparently too much for her. Her body exploded outward into the body of a grey wolf. She bared her teeth and dug her claws into the ground as she readied to attack.

I instantly thought to run. I took a step to my right trying to turn around, but I was too slow. I felt an immense pain in my thigh as I realized what happened. Leah had lunged at me and dug her claw into my leg.

Jacob barely had time to react. He used all of his strength to push her off of me before she caused anymore damage. I heard a thud as her body hit the ground.

I collapsed to the ground, holding my hand over the slash wound that cut up my inner thigh. I felt something wet as I realized that I fell into a quickly forming puddle of my blood.

"Terry! Terry look at me!" The voice sounded so far away, as the pain in my leg was by far too great for me to ignore. I tried to focus as he yelled at me again. "Terry! It's Jacob look at me, please! You're gonna be ok…"

My eyes cleared as I took deep breaths, trying hard not too pass out. I saw Jacob kneeling over my body, applying pressure to my leg. His face was mixed with several different emotions.

My thigh burned. I was going to look down at the damage but something caught my eye. The grey wolf was standing back up a few feet away. I tried to find my voice. I needed to warn Jacob who was still muttering about how 'it was all going to be ok'.

The wolf's claws dug into the ground again, ready for the second pounce, as I screamed out. "Jacob!"

Jacob turned his head just as Leah lunged for him. There was nothing he could do. This was it. We were both going to die at the hands of a crazed she-wolf.

Something blurred in front of Jacob. A pale white figure now stood between Leah and us. It was Edward. He grabbed Leah's throat just as she neared us, and threw her to the ground, which exploded beneath her. Pieces of rock and dirt flew everywhere.

Jacob turned back to me. "Terry, we're gonna get you help, ok? Just stay with me. Please, I can't live without you…" Tears fell from his eyes onto my face. "Edward. Take him please."

Cold hands replaced the hot ones on my body as I was lifted from the ground. I turned my head to see Jacob. He was standing over a large pool of red liquid. My blood. I lost so much blood.

The world began to grow dark as my eyes searched desperately for Jacob's face. Finally my eyes met his. His eyes were filled with hatred and anger. Tears were flowing down his cheeks as his body shook violently. With the last of my strength I reached out to him. "Jacob…"

Then the world turned black.


	32. Heaven

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

32. HEAVEN

I had never give much thought to what Heaven would be like.

But the annoying beeping noise I heard made me believe I wasn't there. I opened my eyes and tried to focus. When my eyes cleared, the first thing I noticed was Jacob. He was in a chair pulled up to a bed that I was in. He was leaning over the bed, asleep, with his hand on mine.

The room was mostly dark, except for a light above the bed and the light from the rising sun. I looked around and realized I was in a hospital room. I tried to remember how I got here but I couldn't. The last thing I remembered was being in Edward's arms as he carried me away.

The door opened and Carlisle walked in. He was looking at a chart as he stepped into the room. When he looked up, his face lightened. "Terry, you're awake. You've been asleep for a while now. How are you feeling?"

"I feel… good…" I felt a weird sense of tranquility given the events prior to this moment.

Carlisle laughed. "That would be all the morphine you are on. Your inner thigh had four deep slashes. A lot of your thigh muscles and veins were sliced in a few places. And there were several fractures in your wrist. To be honest, I'm surprised you made it through that. You did lose a lot of blood. We almost lost you a few times…"

My broken hand, the one Jacob was holding in his sleep, was in a cast. I lifted the blanket with my good hand and saw that my right thigh was thoroughly wrapped up. "Was my leg really that bad?"

He nodded. "It will take you a while to walk properly again. But given that you were actually able to live through that, it may not take that long for you. Someone up there must like you. I'll be back in a few minutes."

As Carlisle left the room, the sound of the door closing woke Jacob up. He lifted his head up from the bed and saw that I was awake. Several emotions flashed through his face before settling on happy. "Terry! I am so glad you are up… I didn't know what I was going to do if you didn't make it. Are you ok? Do you need anything?"

I stared into his eyes. I thought I was never going to see him again. I thought I was going to die. "Jacob…" Tears started to well up in my eyes.

Jacob climbed onto the bed with me and knelt on either side of my body. He leaned in towards me and pressed his lips to mine. This kiss was a kiss of love. A kiss of relief.

He sat down on my legs which sent a stabbing pain up my body. "Jake!"

"Oh shit!" He shot up immediately, jumping off of the bed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He held his hands over my thigh like he was going to do something to fix it, but he had no idea what to do.

"I'm fine… Don't worry about it." I smiled at him.

"I'm sorry… I completely forgot…" He sat back down in the chair and put his hand on my broken one. "What happened here? I know about your leg, but how did you break your hand?"

My cheeks flushed. "I uhh… I punched Seth in the face…"

Jacob burst out laughing. "You did what? That's so awesome! I mean, not awesome that you broke your hand, but… you know." When he stopped laughing he looked at me seriously. "You're not mad at me for leaving you at the house, are you?"

Before I could answer, the door opened again. Bella and Edward walked in. "Terry! Oh my God, what happened to you?"

Edward walked over to Jacob, who stood up and shook his hand. "Thank you, Edward. If you didn't get Terry here when you did… And thanks for stopping Leah from attacking me with my back turned."

"Don't mention it. Someone reminded me who my friends were and how I need to be loyal to them." He looked at me and nodded.

I nodded back. Then I turned to Bella. "I got attacked by a wolf."

"What? How? _Who?_" She shot daggers on Jacob who looked completely shocked that she would even consider such a thing.

"No, no, no. Not Jacob. It was Leah. It was my mistake really… I should've just stayed at Jacob's house." No, that wasn't true. If I had stayed, it would be Jacob who got hurt. _Wait, how did he not get hurt? What happened after I was carried away?_

Jacob walked to my side. "It was not your fault. Don't make excuses for Leah."

"Jacob, how could you let her attack Terry?" Bella was mad.

He looked upset. "I didn't _let_ her! I tried to stop her! I shoved her away… I was just too late…"

"'Too late'… You're making it sound like I'm dead. I'm right here." I looked up at him.

He put both his hands on my shoulders. "And I am so glad for that. But I can never forgive myself for letting you get hurt…"

"Jacob…" I was about to tell him he didn't need to blame himself, but Carlisle walked in again, this time pushing an empty wheel chair.

He smiled at Bella and turned to me. "Alright Terry. You are all set to leave the hospital. You just need to use this chair for a while. If you feel up for it, after about a week you can try walking again but you'll need to use a cane. And here's a prescription for pain pills for your leg. How does that sound?"

I looked at the wheel chair. I had a feeling I wouldn't be pushing myself anywhere. Jacob would constantly be right there with me. "Sounds good, I guess."

I lifted the blanket off of myself and tried to get up. Pain shot through my leg and before I could even lay back down, Jacob had lifted me up out of the bed. "You don't need to worry about anything. I'll do whatever you need for you."

As Jacob set me into the wheelchair, I looked at Carlisle. "Thank you doctor. Maybe I'll see you guys again soon."

Carlisle smiled. "I'd like that. Maybe we all can cook up something nice for you."

That sounded good. Well, any food sounded good right now. I had no idea how long I had been asleep.

Jacob pushed the wheelchair out of the hospital and Edward and Bella followed. Jacob turned to Edward. "Can you drop us off at my house? I don't have my car here…"

Edward nodded. "Of course."

I rubbed my leg as pain started settling in. I wanted to talk to Jacob about what happened, but I figured it could wait until we were alone at least. He lifted me out of the chair and sat me down in the car.

After putting the wheelchair in the trunk, he sat next to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. He looked into my eyes and put his hand on my bandaged thigh. "I'm sorry…"

The love I saw in his eyes made me realize that being with Jacob was my Heaven.


	33. Fear

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

33. FEAR

Edward had dropped me and Jacob off at Jacob's house. Edward said he would drop the prescription off for me. We waved goodbye to them and Jacob knelt before me, putting a hand on my wheelchair. "What would you like to do now?"

"Well, I would like to talk to you about what happened…"

He sighed. "Alright. Let's go inside."

Jacob pushed me into the house and Billy wheeled himself into the kitchen. "Terry, what happened?"

"I umm…" I didn't know what to say.

"It's my fault. I let him get hurt." Jacob sounded sullen.

Billy just stared at him before wheeling himself back into the living room. "I hope you feel better."

"Thanks." I called after him.

Jacob pushed me into his room and lifted me out of the chair, laying me on the bed. He climbed in next to me, laying on his side. "Alright, what do you want to know?"

It was hard to read the emotion in his face. "What happened after Edward took me away? What happened with Leah?"

He touched a hand to the side of my face. "You don't need to worry about her anymore. She won't hurt you again. Sam ordered her to see a therapist to get better control of her emotions. She didn't want to, but we can't ignore the Alpha's orders."

"That's not what I want to know. What happened between you and her?" I stared into his eyes. He looked reluctant to tell me.

Finally he sighed. "We fought. Then the rest of the pack showed up and separated us."

The phone rang.

Jacob leaned over to reach it. "Hello?" His face turned angry. "No Seth. I don't want to talk to you. I don't need your apology. You want to apologize? Tell Sam to get the pack together and have them _all _apologize to me and Terry. Then I might consider accepting your apology." He slammed the phone back down in the receiver.

"What's wrong?" _Why the hostility?_

He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "None of the pack even tried to stop her. They wouldn't pick sides. They wouldn't attack either of us because we're pack mates. That sickens me. She attacked you! She almost killed you! And they wouldn't even let me-" He stopped.

"They wouldn't let you what?" I didn't like where this was going.

Jacob looked down. "They wouldn't let me kill her."

"How could you even think that Jacob?" I propped myself up on an elbow.

He looked shocked. "Why are you upset? She tried to _kill _you! She tried to kill me!"

"I don't care… All that matters is I'm alive and you're alive. And I love you." I couldn't believe Jacob tried to kill Leah. I knew she attacked us first, but there was no reason to try to kill her.

"I… I almost lost you Terry…" A tear rolled down his cheek. "I couldn't live if you didn't make it."

"But I'm here. I didn't die. I'm not going anywhere." I leaned over and kissed him. He pulled me on top of him. Moving made my leg hurt, but I didn't mind. I wanted Jacob to know he didn't have to be upset anymore.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Jacob looked up at the ceiling.

I laid a hand on his chest. "Not anymore. Well, I wasn't angry so much as I was upset that you were going off by yourself. I can't explain it, I just needed to be with you. I _was _angry that you had Seth hold me back though."

He laughed. "I can see that you were angry. Angry enough to punch a werewolf."

"That'll teach me." I started tracing circles on his chest.

He lifted my face to his and kissed me. I tried to sit on top of him, but he saw that it hurt me so he laid me on my back and knelt over me. Still kissing me, he unbuttoned my pants and carefully slid them down my legs.

"Jacob…" I wanted him. I remember we said something about taking it slow, but the pure animal lust we had for each other was too great to deny.

We tried to have sex. But my leg hurt by far too much.

"I'm sorry Jacob…" I was laying on top of him again.

"Don't be sorry. I should've known you are in no shape to do it." He smiled.

I still felt bad. I knew he wanted to have sex. I could feel that he did.

We just laid there in each others arms for a while, until a howl filled the silence of the room.

I look up at Jacob. "What's that?"

He sat up. "I don't believe it." He turned to me, looking surprised. "The pack wants to meet up. Maybe they are going to apologize…"

I didn't know how I felt about that. I didn't really want to be near Leah. I was scared. But I could never let Jacob know that.


	34. Misunderstanding

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

34. MISUNDERSTANDING

Jacob had driven us to the meeting place in his Rabbit. Moving around a lot really started to make my leg hurt. I was glad we stopped at the pharmacy to pick up my pain pills.

I took one and the pain dulled. I was thankful for that. On the drive to the clearing, my palms started to get sweaty. I was really nervous about this pack meeting. I really didn't want Leah to be there.

Luckily, she wasn't. It was the entire pack, minus Leah. They all stood across from me and Jacob. Their faces stone solid, no emotions. I had a bad feeling.

Jacob crossed his arms. "Alright. Let's hear it. Apologize."

Paul raised an eyebrow.

Sam shook his head. "We're not here to apologize to you."

Jacob looked shocked. "What? Why not?"

"Jacob, you had no right to attack Leah as viciously as you did." Sam sounded indifferent.

"You can't be serious… I had no right? She attacked Terry! She tried to kill him!" Jacob was furious.

"And you tried to kill her!" Seth yelled. "I'm sorry that Terry got hurt, but damn it Jacob, how could you attack a pack mate like that? My sister?"

Jacob laughed a hysterical laugh. It sounded to me like he was losing it. "Yeah, I attacked her. It's called self defense. She tried to kill us both! If Edward hadn't been there, we'd both be dead! You hear that Seth? Leah would've killed us!"

"Edward? The blood-sucker? On our land?" Paul raged. "How dare you bring him here, to attack one of us!"

"I didn't _bring _him here!"

"I did." I wasn't going to let Jacob get yelled at for that.

Sam turned to me. "You brought a vampire to attack a pack mate?"

I shook my head. "No. I needed to come see if Jacob was ok, because I heard Leah was unstable. I didn't want him to be alone. I called Edward and had him drive me here. He said that it wasn't his fight, that he couldn't get involved."

"But he did." Sam finished for me.

"Only because Leah was going to k-kill me and Jacob." I had to keep it together. I tried not to let the images of that day in my head. "He was protecting us. He wasn't waging war or anything like that."

Sam looked thoughtful. "I want to apologize to you, Terry. I'm sorry you got hurt. If there's anything I can do to make it up, please let me know." He turned to Jacob. "I will not apologize to you. You almost killed Leah."

Jacob took deep breaths. His arms were shaking. "You don't understand… I thought she killed Terry. I thought she murdered my imprint. Think about it Sam. What would you do if she, or anyone for that matter, killed Emily?"

Sam winced at the thought.

There was something I was missing. Jacob told me that he and Leah fought, but the way they were describing it, it sounded like it wasn't a regular fight. "Jacob?"

He turned to me. "Yeah?"

"What did you do to Leah?"

I saw Jacob's face change from anger to sorrow as he recalled that day. "I… I…"

"He had her by the throat. He was _biting down _on her throat. If we had gotten there any later… She would probably be dead." Sam looked at my expression carefully.

I couldn't believe it. "Jacob… Is that true?"

He looked at the ground. "Yes… I tried to kill her. Terry look at you!" He knelt before me and grabbed my hands. "Look at what she did to you! You had lost so much blood. I was furious. I saw life draining from you. It was like the reason for my existence was being taken away from me… I don't really understand my thoughts that day, but I figured if I killed her, you would be better… I-I'm sorry…" A tear slid down his cheek.

"Jacob…" I understood. I would've done the same thing if it happened to Jacob instead of me. I probably wouldn't have been able to kill her, but that's not the point.

Sam walked up to Jacob and put a hand on his shoulder. "I understand now. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking clearly. I probably would've done the same thing. I'm sorry Terry got hurt. But Jacob, killing her wouldn't have helped."

Jacob sighed. "I know. There were so many thoughts going through my head… I was so mad at what she did. I just let my anger get the better of me." He stood up and looked at Seth. "I'm sorry I tried to kill her."

Seth nodded. "I understand. And… Well I'm sorry I let Terry go. If I didn't let him, he wouldn't have gotten hurt… I suppose it's my fault."

"Look, guys. I'm not dead. You know, I get it. We're all sorry I got hurt, but I'm here. I'm fine. It's my fault anyway. I should've stayed at Jacob's house. That way I wouldn't have gotten hurt and Jacob wouldn't have attacked Leah. But really, I'm fine." No, that wasn't true. Memories of that day were burning at the corners of my mind. Flashes of razor sharp teeth began to make me uneasy. But I didn't want Jacob to worry.

"I'm gonna take Terry home now. He doesn't look so good… Are you ok?" Jacob knelt in front of me again.

Apparently I didn't look too good. _Maybe I just need to sleep._ "I'm fine. Just tired."

"Goodbye. And I'm sorry again, Terry." Sam and the pack left into the woods.

"Come on, let's get you home." Jacob eyed me carefully on the ride back to his house.

_I guess I'm not holding together as well as I thought…_


	35. Life

I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

35. LIFE

I thought a lot on the drive back to Jacob's house.

I was ready to live my life with him.

Everyone was ok with me and Jacob being together and-'_Terry! Terry look at me! Terry! It's Jacob look at me, please! You're gonna be ok…_' I shook my head, trying to push the memories away.

I just wanted to move on from that day. But I couldn't.

Jacob constantly asked me if I was ok. I wasn't entirely sure if I was. But I told him I was fine.

I wanted to be alone with Jacob. I was, we were in the car, but I wanted to be lying with him. I felt safe that way.

I tried to remember all the mornings we had together, waking up laying on top of him. My favorite was when he gave me the hemp necklace. I touched it. I was really glad nothing happened to it when Leah attacked.

Images of her lunging at me made me flinch. Jacob held my hand as we pulled up to his house. He smiled at me.

I smiled back, doing my best not to show any sign of distress.

Jacob carried me into the house and laid me down on his bed. He climbed in next to me. "Here we are. Safe and sound." He touched the side of my face.

_Safe and sound… _I wanted to believe that. But I couldn't.

I kept thinking Leah was going to come get me. It was childish to think that. She was doing her best to get help.

"I love you, Jacob." I looked into his eyes.

"I love you. Forever and always." He placed his hand on my bandaged thigh. He rubbed it gently. He smiled at me, but his smile held sadness.

"What's wrong Jacob?"

"I'm so sorry I let you get hurt. I promised I'd always be there to protect you… And I let Leah nearly take you away from me." I could see he was trying not to cry.

I sighed. "Jacob, you don't have to worry about that. I got hurt. It's ok. Please, stop beating yourself up."

He stared into my eyes. "You're not ok, are you?"

That caught me off guard.

"I can see it in your face. You're scared…"

Tears started flowing from my eyes. I just nodded and buried my face in his chest.

He wrapped his big arms around me, holding me close. "You don't need to be afraid. I will _always_ be here to protect you. From now on. I won't leave you like I did. Had you have been there from the beginning I think it would've ended differently. It's ok Terry. You're safe… now…"

"J-Jacob… I don't want… y-you to be upset… with yourself…" Crying hysterically made talking very difficult.

We both laid there for a long time. Eventually I stopped crying. Jacob lifted my head. "Are you gonna be ok now?"

I nodded. "I hope so."

"You will always be safe in my arms."

"I _feel_ safe when I'm with you." It was true. I always have felt safe with Jacob.

But that wasn't the problem.

I never doubted Jacob's ability to protect me. Even after I was attacked, I still feel safer with Jacob than anywhere else.

It was just the images of Leah as a wolf. They kept penetrating my thoughts. Flashes of her teeth and claws, and the horrible sound of her snarling.

I tried to listen to the sound of Jacob's heartbeat. I focused as hard as I could on it.

Listening to his heart always soothed me. I always felt calm listening to it.

As time went on, the sun set. Jacob spoke for the first time in hours. "What do you want to do with our life together? What are your plans for the future?"

That was a question I hadn't given much thought to. I had been living each moment, not worrying about the what was to come. "Why do you ask?"

"Well… I was thinking… School starts for me in a couple of days… And I was just wondering if you were going to leave. Like do you have school or work?" He sounded afraid.

"Why, do you want me to leave?" For now the fear had gone. I was able to play around with Jacob like normal.

"No! Of course not! I just don't wanna be the reason you get fired or drop out of school."

I hadn't thought of my life outside of Jacob since I arrived in Forks. "To be honest with you Jacob… I recently graduated and have no plans for college or work. I'm not missing anything by being here with you." I looked up at him.

His face turned red. "Umm… Would you… uhh… Do you want to move in? I had asked Dad a few days ago. He said it would be fine with him…"

I didn't even have to think about it. "Of course. I would love to move in with you."

"Really? That's… fantastic!" He pressed his lips to mine.

_Moving in with Jacob would be the first step in spending the rest of my life with him… _"Jacob… I actually never even thought about leaving…"

His laughter filled the room.

My life with Jacob was finally taking off. I was going to be moving in with the love of my life.

_I could get a job around here, and maybe soon me and Jacob could move out… _My life was really starting to look up. I was going to be with Jacob forever.

Then the nightmares started…

-TO BE CONTINUED-

A/N: So there you have it. The first "book" of Terry and Jacob's relationship. Please, any comments, criticism, anything, is greatly appreciated. I want to know what you all think of 'Morning Light'. Hopefully that cliffhanger doesn't upset you too much.

Through the messages I have received from some readers, it has become apparent that you want to know more about what goes on in Jacob's head. What kind of writer would I be if I didn't take into account my readers comments?

I decided I will be rewriting 'Morning Light' from Jacob's perspective before I write the sequel. Jacob's perspective really shouldn't take me that long to do considering the story is written already. I should be able to bang out a few chapters at a time.

I promise you, my loyal readers, that the sequel to 'Morning Light' is coming. I just need to write a few chapters and sketch out a brief storyline before I post anything.

If you liked this story, and would like to read it from Jacob's point of view, and/or would like to see where the story of Terry and Jacob goes next, favorite me. Subscribe to alerts. That way you'll know when these next stories come out.

As always, thank you for your support, and devotion to my story. Your time reading and commenting this story hopefully hasn't gone to waste.

Onward! To Jacob's perspective!

~Jack Stall


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